Chilled water pumps at a central plant.

Chilled water pumps at a central plant. Image by Warren Gretz, NREL/06196

The Building Technologies Office conducted a healthcare energy end-use monitoring project in partnership with two hospitals. See below for a few highlights from monitoring fan and pump energy use.

Fans

At the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Gray Building, supply, return/exhaust, and exhaust fans collectively had an annual site energy use intensity (EUI) of 51.0 kBtu/ft2-yr.  At the State University of New York Upstate Medical University (SUNY UMU) East Wing, supply and return/exhaust fans had an annual site EUI of 63.0 kBtu/ft2-yr.

Pumps

Annual site EUIs for pumps were estimated to be 6.7 kBtu/ft2-yr at the MGH Gray Building (including pumps for hot water, heat recovery, chilled water, and condenser water) and 14.4 kBtu/ft2-yr at the SUNY UMU East Wing (including pumps for hot water, chilled water, and condenser water).

Tip for Comparing Sites

When comparing reported fan or pump energy between two sites or projects, it is helpful to clarify whether there are differences in how pieces of equipment were assigned to end-use categories. Some stakeholders may include certain fans or pumps as part of “heating” or “cooling” energy use.

Read the full report, Healthcare Energy End-Use Monitoring, for more information.