Hospital Design for Hot-arid Climates

Heriot-Watt University
School of the Built Environment
Douglas Harris

Hospitals are relatively large users of energy, and in a hot-arid climate much of that energy is
used for cooling. In countries such as Syria and Oman there is generally no shortage of fuel
to supply the energy required, but often the rate of growth in demand for electrical power
outstrips the capacity to install it. For this reason, and also through considerations of climate
change and economics, it is important that new hospitals in the middle-east should be both
functional and energy efficient. In the last twenty years new hospital designs have been
developed in the UK which are very successful functionally and energy efficient, and it would
be beneficial if these designs could be utilised in other climates. However, since the design of
energyefficient buildings is very climate- sensitive, there is no guarantee that a building
designed for the British climates will be successful in a hot-arid climate. Apart from climate
considerations, there are also differences in construction methods used and the range of
materials available. Therefore a programme is underway to simulate the performance of a
standard British Nucleus hospital design in a hot-arid climate, and to investigate the changes
necessary to make this building to provide comfortable conditions and energy efficiency.
The major issues under investigation relate to the problem of keeping the building cool in
such a climate, and cover such matters as orientation, wall construction, window design, solar
shading, and the use of natural ventilation, the use of one or multi-storey buildings, the role of
thermal mass and roof insulation. Among the outputs of this work will be design guidance on
the adoption of the nucleus design to other climates, with the specific issues mentioned above
being addressed.



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