Role of Space Layout and Building Envelope in Hospital Energy Performance—A Context of Warm Humid Climate in India

Globally hospitals are among the most energy-intensive buildings due to their constant consumption patterns and varied kinds of activity. A fundamental challenge in hospitals is the requirement of suitable comfort conditions and indoor environment quality because of the widely varying conditions required by different types of occupants, especially in warm humid climates. The daily variation in temperature and humidity poses a challenge to ensure thermal comfort in tropical buildings where the air conditioning system has a substantial energy share. There is a need to significantly reduce hospital energy consumption through mechanical systems by incorporating environmentally conscious design, such as solar control, daylighting, and natural ventilation. Envelope design along with efficient space layout is primarily governed by requirements of heat gain and losses, ventilation, and daylighting in a warm humid climate. This paper aims to explore the efficient space layout and significant envelope design variables to reduce the mechanical load by providing efficient energy performance in the hospital building. This research is established on a theoretical approach backed mainly by the conclusions of a literature review and simulation-based analysis of a small hospital located in the southern coastal region of India. The study will give further directions to develop optimal solutions concerning envelope parameters as well as space layout variants to enhance the energy performance of healthcare buildings in warm humid climates.