Comparing Energy Efficiency Across Multiple Hospital Wings

qeatechmarkstg on June 19, 2025

Reliable and efficient building performance is critical for healthcare facilities in ensuring optimal comfort and safety for staff and patients. A prominent full service, acute care hospital that treats over 50,000 patients annually, sought QEA Tech’s services to evaluate the performance of all four of its hospital wings, spanning 234,892 square feet. Serving a population of over 800,000 residents, the Hospital is committed to providing exceptional healthcare and environmental sustainability.

With this commitment in mind, QEA Tech conducted building envelope audits for three of the hospital wings, subsequently conducting an audit for the fourth wing after it had completed renovations. The Hospital was particularly interested in QEA Tech’s ability to pinpoint envelope issues down to inches, simplifying the retrofit planning process by providing exact, measurable identification of where action is needed. Additionally, the Hospital had concerns over pieces of bricks falling in certain areas, further emphasizing the need to assess the building’s envelope.

Audit of the Unrenovated Hospital Wings

QEA Tech’s audit of the three unrenovated wings found notable energy loss across the building envelope. Walls and roofs were a significant area of concern, with the walls and roofs in some wings performing at only 27% and 19% of building code guidelines respectively.

QEA Tech’s audit found that across the three wings:

1. 56-79% of annual energy loss in megawatt hours (MWh) is preventable

2. Over $150,000 in annual energy costs can be saved

3. 32%-45% of annual tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) can be avoided

Heat loss through window frames and inconsistent insulation were the most prevalent issues identified. Heat loss through window frames occurred when frames made from highly conductive materials allow heat to bypass the glazing and insulation around the frame. Inconsistent insulation was a result of inadequate coverage, deterioration due to water intrusion, or aging insulation. Energy loss caused by these issues resulted in higher operational costs as well as discomfort for hospital patients and staff, confirming the need for higher performing building envelope materials.

Assessment of the Renovated Wing: Highlighting the Value of Retrofits

After seeing the insights provided by QEA Tech’s audit of its unrenovated wings, the Hospital completed an audit of its newly renovated wing to verify the impact of retrofits made. The Hospital had made renovations in an effort to reduce energy costs and consumption of aging infrastructure. Renovations made include changing select windows to windows with more efficient glazing and frames, recladding the roof, and adding higher performing insulation and new cladding to the walls. These renovations proved to have a significant impact on energy efficiency:

1. Annual energy loss (MWh) for the envelope decreased by 53% compared to average energy loss across unrenovated buildings.

2. Energy loss (MWh) as a result of heat loss through window frames reduced by 57% compared to average energy loss across unrenovated buildings.

3. Energy loss (MWh) as a result of inconsistent insulation decreased by 93% compared to average energy loss across unrenovated buildings.

Comparison of Unrenovated Envelope Elements and Renovated Envelope Elements to Building Code

Retrofitted envelope elements perform much more closely to building code guidelines, with the renovated wall performing at 93% of guidelines, the new roof performing at 79% of guidelines, and the retrofitted window performing at 93% of guidelines. Such improvement shows the profitable impact of the retrofits completed.

Building Envelope Improvements: Closer Look

Retrofits made to the renovated hospital wing achieved substantial savings, helping to decrease energy costs for the building. The comparative analysis below shows the improved energy efficiency for a retrofitted window, wall, and roof compared to unrenovated envelope elements.

The retrofitted wall and roof showed the largest improvement, as these elements were the weakest performing prior to renovations. The significant improvement in energy efficiency and reduction in annual costs for the retrofitted building envelope elements validate the Hospital’s investment in envelope upgrades.

Next Steps on the Road to Energy Efficiency

The Hospital was impressed with the precision, accuracy, and detail provided by QEA Tech’s audit. The Hospital is using data from QEA Tech’s analysis to address structural cracks and brick delamination across the envelope. The Hospital is also taking steps to retrofit more of its windows, communicating with one of QEA Tech’s partnered retrofit vendors to implement high-efficiency window inserts. QEA Tech’s AI-powered audit allowed the Hospital to efficiently and accurately assess the impact of the renovations completed as well as pinpoint exact areas across the envelope where additional improvements are required, helping to optimize future retrofit planning.

Interested in assessing the performance of your building envelope? Connect with QEA Tech to receive a free quote for an audit and to learn how our patented AI software can inform your portfolio planning.

Analyzing Energy Loss Across a Hospital Campus

Hannah Elhamahmy on November 18, 2024

QEA Tech completed detailed building envelope energy audits for a world-renowned hospital based in the US. The Hospital has numerous properties across a large dense city, provides a wide range of healthcare services, and includes a Level I trauma center. QEA Tech completed audits for 12 of the Hospital’s buildings, spanning multiple city blocks.

The Hospital enlisted QEA Tech’s services as it lacked the data it needed to integrate the building envelope into its decarbonization plan. The Hospital was motivated to enact decarbonization measures due to the old age of its buildings and high energy bills. Particularly, the Hospital suspected poor performance of its windows and sought data on their actual U-values. QEA Tech was selected as we provide detailed and actionable insights, which was optimal for the large size and number of the Hospital campus’s buildings.

Operations

QEA Tech’s drone operations spanned approximately 860,000 square feet with data being collected within 7 days. QEA Tech’s operations had to be efficient and non-intrusive to not disturb 24/7 hospital operations. The data collected was processed and analyzed by our AI-powered proprietary software, calculating the energy loss, greenhouse gas emissions, potential energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings, and actual effective U-values/ R-values for each building envelope element. Additionally, QEA Tech identified over 4800 issues related to the Hospital’s building envelopes, such as heat loss through connections of building envelope elements, thermal bridging, and heat loss through the window frame.

Key Findings

Through our audit, QEA Tech found that:

1. 62% of annual building envelope energy loss in megawatt-hours (MWh) can be avoided by upgrading the envelopes to building code.

2. >$850,000 in annual energy expenditures can be saved by upgrading building envelopes to building code.

3. 1451 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) are avoidable annually by upgrading building envelopes to building code.

4. The average payback period to recoup costs of all the retrofits recommended in our audit is 7 years.

Total % of Energy Loss (MWh) from Each Building Envelope Element
Graph Insights

Heat loss due to connections of building envelope elements: Due to the old age of the Hospital campus’s buildings, this is likely caused by connections of building envelope elements not being continuously insulated or thermal layers decaying over time. Degradation of materials over time can lead to cracks or openings between building envelope elements, further increasing energy loss.

Inconsistent, decay of, or no insulation: Age and moisture accumulation throughout the building envelope has likely caused the insulation of the Hospital’s buildings to deteriorate, leading to reduced R-values and effectiveness.

Thermal bridging: As buildings age, settling and material degradation can lead to cracks or openings at junctions, amplifying thermal bridging issues. Thermal bridges occur when a more conductive material creates a direct pathway for heat transfer across less conductive areas of the building envelope, increasing energy loss.

Top Issues

Poorly Performing Windows

The average U-values calculated for the majority of the Hospital’s windows were performing significantly below building code, resulting in over $500,000 of annual heating and cooling loss attributed to windows. Some windows in the Hospital displayed heat loss through insulated glass units (IGUs), losing insulating gas fill due to failing seals.

QEA Tech recommended that the Hospital apply window inserts for the poorly performing windows identified by QEA Tech. These inserts are customized glass panes that can be placed on the inside or outside of the existing window. This creates a new thermal boundary that improves U-values while minimizing disruptions to hospital operations and patient care. Further, these inserts are more cost effective than traditional window replacement and take a fraction of the time to implement. The total potential energy savings of implementing this retrofit for the Hospital amounts to 7527 MWh. It will take approximately 10 years to recoup the costs of performing this retrofit.

Moisture Accumulation within Roofing Membrane and Tiles

Moisture accumulation on the Hospital’s roofs was likely caused by poorly ventilated roofing systems resulting in condensation beneath the roofing membrane and stagnant water from rainfall that was not properly drained. This is a significant issue as water trapped beneath the roofing membrane creates an environment for mold growth, rot, and deterioration of roofing material, negatively affecting the health of the Hospital’s occupants.

To address this issue, it is recommended that the drainage systems on the roof are regularly inspected and cleaned. In addition, the damaged areas of the roof should be remediated by applying an insulation layer and a durable roof membrane (e.g. bitumen layer). Lastly, the roof should be sealed against potential leaks. This approach is designed to provide the Hospital with a roof expected to last an additional 15-20 years, addressing existing leaks and other roofing issues. Moreover, this method is more cost-effective than a full roof replacement and better meets the needs of the Hospital by allowing it to remain fully operational during the renovation.