Hospital Rivierenland is in a crucial midlife phase. Deerns has recently been engaged to optimise the installations, work processes and zoning for the main site, starting with energy label assessment.
Hospital Rivierenland in Tiel, founded in 1962, is known for its high quality of care and emphasis on safety and excellence, as evidenced by quality certifications to its name.
Hospital Rivierenland is a medium-sized hospital and has a strategic geographical location. The hospital serves an extensive catchment area with few other healthcare providers nearby. Continuity of care is therefore essential.
In addition, the patient approach has evolved in recent years, with more remote care emerging. An energy label was a pre-requisite for the hospital’s plant to partly rent out one of its locations, leading to the ambition to establish energy labels for all buildings. This is one of the projects which, in cooperation with Deerns, is in full swing. This in turn, reflects the upward trend on sustainability ambitions in the healthcare sector. Rivierland Hospital has signed the Green Deal and plans to achieve the bronze level certification of the Dutch Health Care Sustainability Ranking. The energy label also informs the recently drawn up long-term maintenance plan
Energy label for existing buildings
Preparing an energy label for existing buildings has unique challenges, unlike new construction projects. Sanne de Groot, Senior Engineer at Deerns, explains: “Unlike new construction, where every part is measured from the drawing, at Rivierenland Hospital a lot of measurement work had to be done on site, while maintaining all essential hospital functions.”
“Moreover, the building parts date from different periods, with some still in their original 1962 state. This requires a serial approach.”
When determining an energy label, Deerns first considers all the building’s functions, followed by mapping the building envelope; the characteristics of the floors, roofs, walls and windows. Installations are also analysed in detail to get a complete picture of energy consumption. Think ventilation systems, air handling units and heat recovery.
Based on these input parameters, a theoretical energy consumption is calculated, resulting in a single energy label for the entire building.
Deerns tabled changes to the pharmacy and is supervising the replacement of some laminair flow (LAF) cabinets.
“Through our multi-disciplinary advisory expertise we help to keep care at a high level in the operational heart of the hospital,” said Charles Mahieu, Senior Advisor Healthcare at Deerns.
