Assessment of overheating risk in gynaecology scanning rooms during near-heatwave conditions: a case study of the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK

Gough, H., Faulknall-Mills, S., King, M.-F. and Luo, Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2082-3958 (2019) Assessment of overheating risk in gynaecology scanning rooms during near-heatwave conditions: a case study of the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (18). 3347. ISSN 1660-4601 doi: 10.3390/ijerph16183347

Abstract/Summary

Hospital buildings in the UK are at particular risk to rising summer temperatures associated with climate change. Balancing the thermal needs of patients, staff, and visitors is a challenging, complex endeavour. A case study of the ultrasound area of the Royal Berkshire Hospital’s Maternity and Gynaecology building is presented, where temperatures were measured for 35 days in waiting areas, staff offices, and ultrasound scanning rooms, aiming to assess the overheating risk posed to occupants. Local external temperature measurements were used for comparison whereby determining the indoor-outdoor environmental connection. Results show that most rooms had already breached standard overheating thresholds within the study period. Anthropogenic and waste heat from equipment has a noticeable effect on indoor temperatures. Local air-conditioning helped reduce the peaks in temperature seen between 14:00 and 17:00 for similar scanning rooms but is in contradiction to the National Health Service’s sustainability plans. Several low-level solutions such as improved signage, access to water, and the allocation of vulnerable patients to morning clinics are suggested. Barriers to solutions are also discussed and the requirement of sufficient maintenance plans for cooling equipment is empathised. These solutions are likely to be applicable to other hospital buildings experiencing similar conditions.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/85558
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Institute for Environmental Analytics (IEA) Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology Science > School of the Built Environment > Urban Living group Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Uncontrolled Keywords	hospital; overheating; temperature; heatwave; climate; case study
Publisher	MDPI Publishing
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