| Title |
Analysis of Energy Use and Influencing Variables for Energy Benchmarking in Medical Facilities |
| Authors |
오지현(Oh, Jihyun) ; 김선숙(Kim, Sunsook) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.3.273 |
| Keywords |
Medical facility; Building energy benchmarking; Bed-based energy use intensity; Public data |
| Abstract |
Medical facilities are among the most energy-intensive building types because they operate continuously, serve large numbers of occupants,
and depend on energy-demanding medical equipment. This study analyzes the relationships between energy use and influencing variables as a
preliminary step toward developing an energy benchmarking framework for medical facilities. A total of 1,404 medical facilities in Korea
were analyzed using national public datasets. Energy use was assessed using total energy use (kWh), gross-`floor-area-based energy use
intensity (kWh/m²), and bed-based energy use intensity (kWh/bed). Medical facilities were classified into small facilities with 30 to 99 beds
and large facilities with 100 beds or more to identify scale-dependent characteristics. The results showed that gross floor area and operational
intensity variables, such as the number of beds per area and the number of doctors per bed, strongly influence total energy use and
bed-based energy use intensity. In contrast, the gross-floor-area-based energy use intensity shows very low explanatory power for operational
variables, indicating that the bed-based energy use intensity more effectively reflects operational efficiency from a building energy
benchmarking perspective. These findings provide a quantitative basis for defining peer groups and developing fair and data-driven energy
benchmarks for medical facilities. |