scope:

This Guide has been created for a "standard" mid-to-large-size hospital, but the approaches and strategies suggested can be applied to all sizes and classifications of large hospitals. In general, most large hospitals are at least 100,000 ft². Space types covered by the Guide include cafeterias, kitchens, and dining facilities; conference, lobby, lounge, and office areas; reception/waiting areas and examination and treatment rooms; clean and soiled workrooms and holding areas; nurse stations, nurseries, patient rooms, corridors and transition spaces, lockers, and restrooms; operating rooms, procedure rooms, recovery rooms, and sterilizer equipment areas; pharmacies, medication rooms, and laboratories; triage, trauma, and emergency rooms; physical therapy and radiology/imaging rooms; and storage, receiving, and mechanical/electrical/telecom rooms. This Guide will not directly address other atypical or special-use spaces.

The primary focus of this Guide is new construction, but recommendations may be equally applicable to hospitals undergoing complete renovation and, in part, to many other hospital renovation, addition, remodeling, and modernization projects (including changes to one or more systems in existing buildings)

Included in the Guide are recommendations for the design of the building opaque envelope; fenestration; lighting systems (including electrical interior and exterior lights and daylighting); heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; building automation and controls; outdoor air (OA) requirements; service water heating (SWH); and plug and process loads (PPL), including kitchen equipment. Additional savings recommendations that are not necessary for 50% savings are discussed in the "Additional Bonus Savings" section of Chapter 5.

The recommendation tables do not include all of the components listed in ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1. Though this Guide focuses only on the primary energy systems within a building, the underlying energy analysis assumes that all of the other components and systems comply with the minimum design criteria in ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, ASHRAE Standard 62.1, and ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170.

In addition, the Guide is not intended to be a substitute for rating systems or references that address the full range of sustainability issues in hospital design, such as acoustics, productivity, indoor air quality (IAQ), water efficiency, landscaping, and transportation, except as they relate to energy use. Nor is it a comprehensive design text. The Guide assumes good design skills and expertise in hospital design.