Architectural and Management Strategies for the Design, Construction and Operation of Energy Efficient and Intelligent Primary Care Centers in Chile

Primary care centers are establishments with elevated social relevance and high operational energy consumption. In Chile, there more than 628 family healthcare centers (CESFAM) have been built in the last two decades and with plans for hundreds more in the next few years. We revised the architecture...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2019-01, Vol.11 (2), p.464
Main Authors: Forcael, Eric, Nope, Alberto, García-Alvarado, Rodrigo, Bobadilla, Ariel, Rubio-Bellido, Carlos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Architecture
Bids
Building construction
Case studies
Climate
Climatic conditions
Cold
Construction
Construction management
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Green buildings
Health care
Health care industry
Health care policy
Population
Primary care
Public buildings
Radiation
Sustainability
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Summary:Primary care centers are establishments with elevated social relevance and high operational energy consumption. In Chile, there more than 628 family healthcare centers (CESFAM) have been built in the last two decades and with plans for hundreds more in the next few years. We revised the architecture, construction management and energy performance of five CESFAM centers to determine possible instances of overall improvement. Staff was interviewed, and state documents reviewed, which allowed the conceptualization of the architectonic and energy structure of the centers, as well as the process of implementation. At the same time, energy simulations were done for each one of the centers, controlling for different climates, construction solutions and orientations. Our study revealed that strategies employed by the primary healthcare centers in Chile have aided a progressive implementation of establishments with elevated costs and materialization times, as well as neglect for climatic conditions. These energy evaluations show relevant and consistent impacts of the architectural form and material conditions, especially in southern zones, demonstrating the need to work with shared knowledge resources such as BIM. There is a clear necessity to define technological, morphological and construction strategies specific to each climate zone in order to achieve energetically efficient and intelligent healthcare establishments.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su11020464