According to the popular saying ‘old roads do not open new doors’, which means that if we want to achieve different results we have to do things differently. And this is precisely how we should see sustainability, as an opportunity to do things differently.
Indeed, this saying is more than time in the current situation. With energy prices soaring and the threat of power cuts, it is time to look for solutions that are capable of achieving energy efficiency and savings. Especially in places as important as hospitals.
Currently, health centres have an average consumption of 430 kilowatt hours per square metre per year. This is double the ideal maximum limit of 211 kilowatt hours per square metre per year. In addition, with the increase in electricity prices, health centres have seen a 25% increase in energy costs. In fact, according to Sedisa, hospitals currently spend around 100,000 euros per month on electricity bills, which are also subject to 21% VAT.
In fact, of all the energy consumed in hospitals, the highest expenditure figures come from HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems, and especially from the surgical block. This area requires very strict air-conditioning and ventilation conditions that have to be constantly maintained, which is equivalent to 20% of the total energy expenditure of a hospital.
This situation is aggravated by the fact that 75% of hospitals still use natural gas for heating and cooling. And the situation is not likely to improve in the short term, as there is currently a real threat of supply cuts due to political tensions with Russia.
This is a delicate moment in which, in addition to extraordinary measures, it may be an opportunity to boost sustainability and energy efficiency through technology.
How to achieve energy efficiency in healthcare?
Thanks to our agreement with Schneider Electric and the combination of our solutions, it is possible to achieve energy savings of up to 30% in the operating theatre. These figures also translate into cost savings of 150,000 euros.
By combining Schneider Electric’s technology for controlling operating theatre conditions (temperature, lighting, humidity, pressure and electrical insulation level) with our ORvital solution (generation of events, states and automated tasks that improve the coordination of staff, the teams involved and resources), it is possible to optimise waiting times in the operating theatre by up to 12%. This translates into an increase in interventions of between 14% and 16%.
To achieve this, both solutions are integrated by connecting to the hospital’s IT backbone, so that it is possible to switch to energy-saving mode when the surgical schedule indicates that there are no more operations planned or if the time between operations is long.
