Impact of a Warming Climate on Hospital Energy Use and Decarbonization: An Australian Building Simulation Study

The high energy use of hospitals and healthcare facilities globally contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, a large percentage this is attributed space heating, cooling ventilation, hence correlated climate. While performance Australian at design stage evaluated using historical weather data, impact warming climate on into future remains unknown. research question addressed is: What climates built with current conditions? Two archetype hospital models were developed (a small single-story facility multi-story hospital). DesignBuilder was used simulate these in 10 locations, ranging from tropics cool temperate regions Australia. Current (1990–2015) files (2030, 2050, 2070 2090) used. results show that climate, heating demand decreased, while increased for both all sites. Cooling dominated climates, such as Darwin Brisbane, significantly impacted by changing due substantial increase use. Heating based Hobart Canberra, resulted an overall reduction total building In addition, more change (in terms intensity) than facility. study highlights importance simulation decarbonization planning.