The Anatomy of a Decarbonised Medical Facility

By Matthew Doley

Market Development Manager – Smart Buildings, Electrification, ABB Australia

Digital technologies and energy management solutions that sense, monitor, control and optimise the built environment while it interacts with individuals are at the core of decarbonising hospitals and healthcare facilities. And they play an important role in reducing energy consumption, increasing energy efficiency and the adoption of renewables.

There are five key steps to achieving carbon neutral hospitals and healthcare facilities and buildings: 1. The first step is to deploy digital solutions and energy management such as monitoring, control and optimisation, which is at the core of decarbonising buildings. 2. Next is to increase energy efficiency by utilising building management systems and installing new, highly efficient motors and drives for example. 3. Expanding electrification is also important. For example, heat-pumps and having an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. 4. The installation of distributed renewable energy solutions should also feature in a low-carbon strategy – from photovoltaic technology and wind turbines, through to battery energy storage systems and thermal energy storage. 5. The final step is to procure renewable energy from the grid and offset any remaining emissions.

The technology blueprint

It is important to point out here that achieving carbon neutrality in a new building is easier to achieve ‘by design’ than in older building stock that requires retrofitting. In the absence of a ‘one size fits all’ blueprint, our customers understand that their projects are unique, and feature a combination of existing systems and equipment built over time.

This is why open-source technology and the interoperability between systems is so important. In order to meet Net Zero building targets, we must be able to retrofit a large percentage of existing buildings. And solutions need to be easy to install, with impact and return on investment clearly defined.

Whilst not all technology blueprints for a smart, carbon neutral site are exactly the same, a typical customer smart building will use interconnected technologies to improve comfort and performance across energy management, water use, air conditioning, access, automation, lighting, remote monitoring, and communication networks.

Thanks to ABB’s solution areas within the ABB Ability™ Building Ecosystem, for example, hospital and building operators and facility managers can have digital control of all these elements, and smart buildings will capture the transformative opportunities to become more environmentally friendly – from substantially contributing towards carbon reduction targets through efficiency gains in heating and cooling equipment and in the building itself.

The ABB digital solutions enable constant surveillance and optimum control of energy production, consumption and storage. Largely autonomous, this learning system calculates the optimum energy flow based on predictive data and compensates for deviations in real time. In a carbon neutral site, these technologies are combined for a holistic approach that can be easily scaled according to the requirements of the building.

The digitalisation of buildings through connected technologies and building automation also has a key role to play in helping to manage grid resilience and reliability as well as reducing energy costs and increasing energy efficiency. Moreover, it is an important step towards the energy transition. It enables the building to provide valueadding services towards the modern energy grid and thus supports the shift from “consumer” to “prosumer” – facilitating concepts such as virtual power plants and maximising the value of distributed energy resources (e.g. photovoltaic, batteries) on a broader scale.

In short, the typical solution scope for a carbon neutral building project includes distributed energy resources – such as on-site photo voltaic technology, EV-chargers, energy storage, motors & drives, power supply & protection – as well as digital solutions for energy management including monitoring, control and multi-purpose optimisation. Also, building automation & heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) controls such as digital integration platforms, building automation & control, HVAC control & optimisation, space management and wellness & productivity.

Call Cameron direct on 0416176166 cameron@aciaelectrical.com.au

Specialist in AS 3003 2018, Body and Cardiac Protect. Designing, installing, commissioning and reporting to the standard.

Installing electrical services up to 2000 amps, from the design concept to the commissioning of switch board, generators and transfer switches.

Installation of power/ lighting and communications for all parts of the hospital, with detail refence to AS 3000 and AS 3003.

ACIA Electrical Services can provide Energy monitoring and engineered reports to determine condition of the electrical systems. We use the FLUKE 434 Series 11 monitor to capture the information.

Specialising in medical theatres and imaging departments, including supplying X ray warning signs .

ACIA Electrical Services provides UPS’s, voltage stabilizers, power factor correction units and power filters, to any installation which requires protection.

Over 20 years of working in the medical industry