“Today, no hospital can afford to be without an effective energy management system.” Engineer Herbert Sturn, Technical Manager, Landeskrankenhaus Feldkirch, Austria

The challenge for hospitals

There is no downtime for hospitals. They operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Medical technology that consumes immense amounts of energy is at work around the clock. It comes as no surprise that hospitals are among the buildings with the highest energy consumption, and they face multi-faceted challenges. On the one hand, energy usage needs to be ecologically sensitive and sustainable in order to keep costs down and to remain competitive. On the other hand, patients need to receive the best possible care and remain safe.

By updating its energy and danger management system, the Landeskrankenhaus Feldkirch in Austria has assumed a pioneering role among the country’s hospitals. By implementing cutting-edge measures, the Landeskrankenhaus has handled these energy consumption challenges in an exemplary fashion. Measures that play a key role include the implementation of innovative and integrative solutions in the area of building automation, energy management and monitoring, as well as danger management.

The solution from Siemens for (Green) Hospitals

Landeskrankenhaus Feldkirch decided on the Desigo building automation system from Siemens Building Technologies Division (BT) to control the complete automation of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting. For example, Desigo monitors the thermostat settings and compares them to the outside temperature and, depending on the changing level and intensity of the sunlight, can adjust the room temperature in specific rooms or on certain floors if necessary.

Feldkirch also uses BT’s EMC energy monitoring system to collect all necessary data primarily by means of the building management system. This allows the data to be analyzed in a targeted manner. In addition to EMC, Feldkirch also uses a computer-based facility management system (CFM), which monitors all medical and building technology systems and visualizes them via a consistent user interface.

“Thanks to the intelligent energy management and monitoring features in this system, we have achieved high energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions. Transparency and efficiency have significantly increased as well.” Engineer Herbert Sturn, Technical Manager, Landeskrankenhaus Feldkirch, Austria

Facts and figures