Effects of Kinetic Façades on Energy Performance of The Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals, Case Study of Najaf General Hospital

Abstract

Hospital buildings are among the most energy-consuming types of buildings, due to their high occupancy especially in patient rooms, where the average occupancy rate may reach 24 hours / day. Large hospitals, depending on their functions require large amounts of energy, especially in hot, dry climates, to operate their ventilation systems of heating and cooling, which reduces the efficiency of the energy performance of the buildings. This research evaluates the performance of a louver-type kinetic façade in increasing the efficiency of energy performance inside patient rooms by reducing energy consumption in hospitals. A 600-bed public hospital is selected in Iraq, specifically in the city of Najaf 32°15N,44°23 E to test this proposition. It is located in the central region with a hot dry climate. Thus, the study evaluates the patient rooms in this hospital, which are located on the southern and northern facades. It is carried out in two stages: the first stage includes simulation and thermal analysis of the southern and northern parts of the intensive care units before adding the kinetic facades of the louvers-type. The second stage includes simulation and thermal analysis of the southern and northern parts of the patient rooms after adding the kinetic facades. Horizontal and vertical louvers are added to the southern facade and horizontal and vertical louvers to the northern facade of the hospital. The results of the analysis are compared before and after using the kinetic facades. Results were analyzed using Rhino Grasshopper program and Ladybug-Honeybee for simulation and thermal analysis. The results show that the horizontal kinetic façade of louver-type reduces the radiation exposure levels: 75% when its angle of inclination was 45°, by 60% when the angle is 315°, and by 40% when the angle is ° 0. This directly and effectively reduces the temperature and thus reduces the energy consumption of the the HVAC systems. It proved that the kinetic facades achieve the efficiency of energy performance in the intensive care units.