Quantitative Determination of Potable Cold Water Consumption in German Hospitals

Abstract

A hospital's water installations are critical for its function, but the environmental cost is high. This study quantifies the mean potable cold water consumption (PCWC) in 19 hospitals belonging to the German Public Health System. The hospital floor area ranges from 3000 to 151,000 m 2 and the number of beds from 45 to 1003 beds. To this end, 60 Eco-Management and Audit Scheme statements were analyzed corresponding to the period 2005-2015 in accordance with their geographic location, heating-degree-days per year, cold-degree-days per year, hospital category depending on the number of beds, floor area, and number of workers. It was found that PCWC is greater in hospitals located in areas with greater heating-degree-days per year. The potential mean annual savings estimated were 8,600,000 m 3 of water equivalent to 15,000,000 euros, 4000 MWh energy, and 30,000 tons of CO 2 emissions. It was concluded that, to determine the mean annual water consumption, it is preferable to use the number of beds as reference indicator, and the value of the consumption as reference indicator was proposed as 103 m 3 per bed per year.

Adsorption of Paracetamol in Hospital Wastewater Through Activated Carbon Filters

“…Due to the potential risks to human healthcare, the presence of pharmaceuticals products at very low concentrations has raised concern in different sectors [4][5][6]. The presence of paracetamol in very low concentrations in water and wastewater has been detected, however, much higher concentrations have been measured in the effluents of hospitals [7][8][9].…”

Study of CO2 emissions from energy consumption in Spanish hospitals

“…The results of this research can serve as a starting point for the development of indicators to quantify the exact consumption of CO 2 emissions in hospitals; although none of the CO 2 saving measures may alter health and comfort of users [27]. It is also possible to establish quotas for energy consumption and gas emissions in hospital buildings, as proposed by Li et al [28].…”

Análisis de la Eficiencia de Mantenimiento en un Hospital en Madrid (España) = Analysis of Maintenance Efficiency at a Hospital in Madrid (Spain)

“…El proceso de benchmarking para la calidad del rendimiento de mantenimiento y la auditoría de mantenimiento es propuesto por Raouf (Raouf, A., 2009). Es un proceso de identificación de las mejores prácticas en el negocio que pueden adoptarse para la mejora propia en calidad y rendimiento (González A., García-Sanz-Calcedo J, Salgado, DR., 2018).…”