Energy implications of implementing adaptive thermal comfort models: a case study of a nursing home

Abstract

Nursing homes are set to be operated to meet certain thermal specifications defined by existing static principles. This article presents a case study of a nursing home to analyse the energy implications of the application of adaptive thermal comfort models for the elderly during the heating and cooling periods. The study included concurrent measurements of the outdoor and indoor environmental parameters and the collection of gas and electricity consumption during the monitoring period of the nursing home to elaborate a consumption model capable of predicting both the gas and electric energy consumption for a given meteorological condition. The research focused on a nursing home located in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona, which is a 3237 m2 building that has an all-water HVAC system with two different Air Handling Units. Applying the adaptive models into the consumption models resulted in obtaining potential savings in terms of energy, both for cooling and heating periods. The savings were higher as more extreme the outdoor conditions were. In general, the estimated potential energy savings were about 18.8% and 9.5% for cooling and heating, respectively. So, these results could be used to define good practices to design and operate nursing homes completely adapted to the environmental conditions in order to save energy demands without losing thermal comfort of the residents.

Postprint (published version)