Hospitals are the backbone of the Indian healthcare sector. These facilities have high energy demands as they never close, with employees, patients and visitors coming in and out of the place 24/7. To keep energy costs in check, both for regulatory compliance and sustainable business model, medical establishments should analyse the pattern of the power consumption and make suitable changes with the help of an energy audit expert.

Generally, energy consumption in a hospital comes from heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (50%) also known as HVAC, medical equipment & others (33%) and lightening (17%).

Here are some ways hospitals can be more energy efficient -

• Choosing Air Conditioning (AC) in the hospital
  • If you buy AC with lower than the required capacity, it will consume a lot more power, and the device will have a shorter life span.
  • If you go for AC with higher than the required capacity, you will end up paying more for the purchase and the power bill.
  • Usage of both split AC and centralized AC has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, in a hospital room, you could use split AC and turn ON/OFF as per the demand. But the disadvantage of a such AC is you will consume one unit of power of one tonnage of AC. In case of a centralized AC, the consumption is 0.7 units per ton.
  • Economically, a combination of centralized AC and split AC should be the way. You can consider centralized AC where there is a requirement for the power 24/7 and go for split AC in the room.
• Use of solar panels in the hospital
  • Another way to reduce power consumption is to use solar rooftops. By installing them, hospitals can generate their energy and use it for different purposes.
  • The central government pays about 30-40% of the benchmarked installation cost for rooftop PV.
  • In certain areas such as Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, a subsidy of up to 70% of the benchmarked installation cost is possible. The State Nodal Agencies also offer subsidies for the same.
  • Replace the heating boilers using diesel, natural gas or even fossil fuels with a biomass boiler.
• Administration of energy management system
  • Under a practical energy management guide, new hospitals need to be properly planned and existing facilities should be modernized. Aesthetic aspect and engineering structure are essential for proper distribution of lights and shades. This way, medical professionals can avoid mistakes and accurately diagnose their patients.
  • Use of LEDs lights over fluorescent and incandescent lamps is one way to conserve energy. Secondly, you can organize the lightning as per their requirement. Thirdly, the use sensors to limit its intensity and timing.
  • Increasing the insulation of the roofs, ensuring the proper sealing of the doors and windows to prevent infiltration, installing blinds to avoid solar radiation, replacing single glazing with double & triple glazing, installing overhangs are some ways to improve the thermal insulation of the hospitals.

We at Minionlabs help hospitals reduce electricity costs, and improve productivity by providing real-time device-level electricity consumption using a smart energy device delivered through the analytical platform.

• We have so far saved 10-30% of the client's businesses earning's annually such as Fortis Hospital, Star Alleypay Palm Beach Hotel, to name a few.
• One of our products is Minion UV Saaph that can sanitize not only food items but also metal items, stationary and electronic gadgets.
• Minion Energy Monitor collects 4 million energy consumption parameters to determine appliance used inside the building.