Evaluation of Energy Consumption in German Hospitals: Benchmarking in the Public Sector

Abstract

The use of benchmarking in the management of healthcare facilities enables immediate comparison between hospitals. Benchmarking allows ascertaining their expected energy consumption and estimating the possible savings margin. In the 2005–2015 period, 90 EU Eco-Audits of 23 public hospitals in Germany were studied to analyze the energy consumption related with weather conditions, built surface area, gross domestic product (GDP), geographic location (GL), bed numbers, and employee numbers. The results reveal that the average annual energy consumption of a hospital under normal conditions, both climatic and operational, is 0.27 MWh/m², 14.37 MWh/worker, and 23.41 MWh/bed. The indicator dependent on the number of beds proved to be the most suitable as a reference to quantify the energy consumption of a hospital.