Energy Department Announces Guide for 50% More Energy Efficient Hospitals
May 08, 2012
The Energy Department today announced the release of the final installment in a series of four 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs). This latest guide will help architects, engineers, and contractors design and build highly efficient hospital buildings, helping to save energy and cut facility operational costs. The 50% AEDG series provides a practical approach for designers and builders of large hospitals, and other major commercial building types, to achieve 50% energy savings compared to the building energy code used in many parts of the nation. These commercial building guides support President Obama's goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20% by 2020.
The Advanced Energy Design Guide for 50% energy savings in large hospitals is now available for download.
Beyond helping builders achieve efficiency exceeding the current energy code, the AEDGs also provide climate-specific recommendations to incorporate today's off-the-shelf energy efficient building products. These recommendations help designers and builders choose advanced building envelope assemblies, highly efficient heating and cooling systems, and incorporate other energy-saving measures such as daylighting and associated control systems. Additionally, efficiency measures found in the guides can be used in the development of future commercial building energy codes.
The 50% Advanced Energy Design Guide series is developed through a partnership with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Institute of Architects (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). The Large Hospital guide is the final installment in the current 50% series, and follows the guides for Small and Medium Office Buildings and K-12 Schools which were released in 2011, and the guide for Medium Retail Buildings released in January of this year.
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Learn more about EERE's support of building technologies. Additional information on DOE's efforts to support the development and implementation of building energy codes can be found on the Energy Codes website.
