Calibrating energy performance model of a hospital building: Dealing with practical issues of data availability and granularity in a case study building in the UK

Abstract

Calibration of energy models is mathematically a highlyparameterized and under-determined problem. Hospitals are energy intensive buildings that have complex and varying specifications for their functions and operations. Calibration of energy models of hospitals is further challenging due to difficulties such as base-load estimation and end-use disaggregation of a 24-hour running facility's measured energy use (specially enduses such as specialist equipment and plug loads). This paper attempts to calibrate the energy model of a hospital building in the UK. Along with design stage building construction documentation, on-site observations and semi-structured stakeholder interviews, energy and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) data is collected for a period of one year. A calibrated energy model is then used to quantify the effects of the observed energy performance gap issues found in the building. The energy and IEQ for the building are compared against design stage targets and industry benchmarks. The paper also reflects on practicalities of data collection such as shortcomings in metering, monitoring and observations that could be addressed for model calibration in hospitals.