Study on the influence of maintenance operations on energy consumption and emissions in healthcare centres by fuzzy cognitive maps

Abstract

The present work is aimed at performing a qualitative analysis of the effect of maintenance intensity on energy consumption, energy costs and emissions in healthcare centres. Most relevant variables involved in the maximization of the building efficiency were determined by means of fuzzy cognitive maps. Twelve variables were observed to show a direct connection to the energy and environmental efficiency as well as to its maintenance condition. The joint effect of these factors was seen to improve the overall performance of the building in terms of efficiency. However, even though maintenance appeared as one of the most highly-rated variables, it did not seem to affect the overall performance by itself, but it was rather due to the synergistic action of the remaining variables. The behaviour of those variables was evidenced to show a significant change for buildings below 1250 m² floor area as compared to those exceeding such threshold value.

Keywords:

• fuzzy cognitive maps
• building maintenance
• healthcare centre
• environmental quality
• healthcare engineering

Acknowledgements

The present study has been carried out through Research Projects GR18029 linked to the VI Regional Plan for Research, Technical Development and Innovation from the Regional Government of Extremadura (2017–2020). The authors wish to acknowledge the European Social Fund for financial support.

ORCID

Justo García Sanz-Calcedo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4449-2636