Role of ICT in Enhancing Energy Efficiency of Commercial Buildings: Case Study of Optimized Energy Control System in Hospital “P”

The increase in oil prices and energy consumption has been a great burden for Korea, which significantly depends on imported, foreign energy sources. In this context, the reduction of building energy consumption, which comprises 40% of total energy consumption, is a very important issue. The use of ICT to optimize energy control of building has surfaced as an effective solution. Therefore, this research empirically analyzed a hospital “P” that implemented ICT-based energy consumption and cost reduction initiative. The hospital first replaced the existing inefficient absorption type heating/cooling system with a hot water storage and pump system. This was accompanied by a change in electricity plans to maximize cost reduction. Second, the hospital applied an ICT-based optimized control algorithm that considers surrounding factors (external temperature and changes in energy demands). The analysis of these mechanisms indicates that the ICT-based energy consumption and cost reduction initiative for hospitals can reduce energy consumption by 52.7% by replacing low-efficiency equipment and additionally by 25.7% with implementation of an optimized control algorithm. Therefore, the implementation of the explored mechanisms will provide effective energy consumption reduction opportunities for other hospitals and buildings with high energy consumption.