Wellington Hospital to breathe easier

Wellington Hospital to breathe easier

A building management system upgrade is set to save Capital & Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) at least $300,000 on its yearly power bill.

The building management system (BMS) currently being upgraded is the combination of hardware and software that is responsible for maintaining air quality and temperature throughout the hospital.

Parts of Wellington Hospital’s existing BMS are over 20 years old. Recent independent audits have identified that many air handling systems for specialist areas such as surgical theatres and isolation rooms operate unnecessarily at full speed 24/7.

Facilities and engineering operations manager Leon Clews says that the functionality of a modern BMS will allow air quality and temperatures to be efficiently maintained with minimal energy usage.

“With the ability to tune air handlers to suit individual environments like theatres or meeting rooms, we expect to save at least $300,000 per year in gas and electricity costs,” he says.

The upgrade will also reduce the DHB’s carbon footprint by 983 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, which is equivalent to planting about 400 hectares of trees each year indefinitely.

It is also equivalent to avoiding burning a 270 tonne pile of coal, the weight of fifteen typical city buses.

“This upgrade is an important step to for CCDHB to achieve the goals set by our Energy Efficiency statement of intent, which include reducing our energy usage by 40% by 2021,” Mr Clews says.

ends

© Scoop Media