The background of the case study:

At the European level, the main policy driver related to the energy use in buildings is the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD, 2002/91/EC). Implemented in 2002, the Directive has been recast in 2010 (EPBD recast, 2010/31/EU) with more ambitious provisions. Through the EPBD introduction, requirements for certification, inspections, training or renovation are now imposed in Member States prior to which there were very few. All EU countries now have functional energy performance certification (EPC) schemes in place.

A general description of the current status of buildings in tertiary sector contains data on typical buildings structure typologies in Slovenia and buildings specifics according to their building technology. Quantitative data of energy and heating sources, energy consumption and status of energy related systems, as well as potential for energy savings and application of pilot technologies from EMILIE project are collected for five the most typical types of buildings in tertiary sector like schools, hospitals, public administrative buildings, hotels and shopping centres. In addition to this, general analysis and assessment of the potential for tertiary building energy refurbishment is elaborated.

The following case study was created based on the above mentioned regional survey carried out as part of the EMILIE project. Special focus is dedicated to studies and sources of data on energy consumption in buildings and related legislation, standards and supporting mechanisms, as well as an updated overview about the key tertiary sector buildings energy needs, status and potential for energy refurbishment.

Facts on energy awareness:

• •  According to the survey about 60% of users follow the energy consumption through invoices, only 30% monitor actual energy consumption, the rest is not monitored.
• •  In most cases (71%) the consumption is monitored on a monthly basis and in about 13% annually. Less than 15% of organisations involve external expertise and support for energy management, with exception of schools where this share is doubled.
• •  An operational program for the implementation of measures to reduce energy consumption and /or production of energy from renewable sources has been prepared in about 15% of the tertiary sector.
• •  Less than a half of organizations in the sector are familiar with financial incentives to increase energy efficiency granted by the Eco Fund. Opportunities regarding how to reduce energy consumption are communicated to employees through internal courses in about 40%, in about one third of organizations no awareness campaign has been made.
• •  In the next three years about a tenth of organisations in the sector intend to invest in increase of the energy efficiency of commercial premises, in 41% of cases investments are not envisaged.
• •  About two thirds of organisations claim that they have a good insight into energy use in their business premises as well as that they are well aware of the energy-saving potential. However, an energy audit that provides a proposal for organizational and investment measures to reduce energy consumption and related costs was carried out in less than a fifth of cases, except in schools where this share reached 37%.

Introduction to the hospital buildings

Size: average 10000 – 40000 m2

Total number in region: 25 (most important)

Status at the time of the audit, before the implementation of AVReporter Energy Management System:

The most common loss of energy occurrence: insulation of the building envelope and systems for heat transfer, efficiency of facilities for the production of heating and cooling medium and lighting systems. In parts where buildings were not improved specific energy consumption values easily reach values of 550 kWh/m2. Climatic conditions in some regions (e.g. coastal) require air-conditioning of work spaces and patient rooms over a longer time period than in the mainland, hence ratio between costs for cooling, dehumidification and air-conditioning and costs of heating is also much dependent on the region.

Short description of the energy related systems

Envelope Insulation of walls, roof/attics

• •  before 1975: almost no insulation (by now about 50% refurbished with insulation according to the state of the art standards)
• •  1975 – 2000: up to 10 cm on the roof/attics + 5 cm envelope
• •  from 2000 on: insulation according to EE standards; situation in 2008: 50-60% non-insulated;

12 hospitals refurbished according to EE standards Example of refurbishment in General Hospital

HVAC systems:

• •  mainly high temperature heating (heating oil), efficiency max. 65-75%
• •  where refurbished - HVAC systems were improved; in other cases: mainly AC split systems or old central cooling/ventilation (surgery blocks, intensive treatment)

Energy management status in the buildings

Typical needs for improvement

• •  Insulation of façades and replacement of windows and doors
• •  Optimisation of heating/cooling systems (particularly for improvement of living standards in patient rooms) - ceiling radiation cooling instead of convective systems
• •  Installation of waste heat recovery (e.g. waste heat generated in rooms with large internal gains - spaces with computer servers or major medical devices)
• •  Modernisation (higher energy efficiency) of HVAC systems 
• •  Installation of an adjustable speed / frequency regulation of ventilation
• •  Measurement of energy consumption
• •  Installation of EE lighting systems, lighting sensors / automation and integration with shading systems
• •  Installation of heat pumps and systems for the utilization of solar energy (RES)
• •  Establishment of a central supervisory-control system

Potential application of the pilot technologies from EMILIE project (Rate: very applicable, likely applicable, not applicable)

Potential introduction of renewable energy sources (RES) in buildings (Specify: solar, biomass, heat pump…) (Rate: very applicable, likely applicable, not applicable)

Solar: very applicable (thermal and PV)

• •  Biomass: likely applicable (healthcare in rural area)
• •  Heat pump: likely applicable (particularly for smaller systems); waste heat recovery
• •  Geothermal: limited potential (only some specific regions)

Installing AVReporter Energy Management Solution

Find below the description of a typical application for a Slovenian Hospital participating in the above audit (for example: the General Hospital Celje).

Celje General Hospital holds an important position in the Slovenian public health system: as the third largest hospital in Slovenia, it includes 1600 employees and annually treats 35,000 inpatients and 260,000 people as part of the specialist and outpatient system.

Bearing the above suggestions and requirements in mind the following energy management system was implemented. By the deployment of 40 PLCs and 8 SCADA stand-alone systems the data is being transferred into AVR database. There are around 450 data points in use with AVR (electrical energy meters, gas meters, hot water meters, water meters, heating energy meters, cooling energy meters, air, condensed air and vacuum meters, temperature, pressure, etc…).

As the project was co-funded by the European Union AVR is required to produce the relevant reports, projections and documentation as a proof of consumption and efficiency monitoring in order to ensure the progress is meeting expectations in a timely and well-organised manner. AVR also supplies Basic and Business Intelligence reports to monitor and manage KPI’s effectively. Most importantly AVR acts as a highly efficient and reliable tool in maintaining the optimum operation level of the complete energy system of the hospital.