Antwerp University Hospital

Antwerp University Hospital (UZA)has 573 beds, employs 3,500 people, and provides more than 500,000consultations and treatments every year. ‘The hospital was built in 1979. Our main challenge is to ensure we continue to fulfil all requirements in terms of maintaining our buildings, infrastructure and facilities, as well as keeping up with all the latest medical technological innovations and legislation,’ saysDirk De Man, Head of Technical Services at UZA.

Hospital expansion must run smoothly

‘This hospital has increased in size from 70,000 m2 to 120,000 m2 since 1979. We want the old and new sections to be integrated together, and for everything to function as it should. We have architects and engineering offices to take care of the new elements, but our own technical services department collaborates with our partner for technical management and maintenance in the original 70,000 m2 to ensure all the technical aspects there are in order.’

Hydraulic integration of old and new buildings

‘We see three main benefits with the Hysopt software. Firstly, there’s the mapping out of the buildings which have been there for 40 years. We have lots of various plans for all these buildings, which we’ve made changes to over time, but now it’s all gathered together neatly in a single digital dossier. A second benefit is the hydraulic optimisation of our heating and cooling installations as we renovate our buildings. And thirdly, Hysopt helps us succeed in ensuring our new buildings produce as little extra energy as possible. This means we use the energy in existing buildings as optimally as possible, to create surplus capacity which we can use in the new buildings,’ explains De Man.

Modernisation of air handling units and climate ceiling installation

‘We’re currently updating the air handling units in the medical technical block, which has a big impact on the hydraulic systems. We’re also busy installing climate ceilings throughout the entire hospital. These also need to be linked to our existing systems, and we’re using the Hysopt software to do all the calculations for this to make sure everything’s optimised.’

Dynamic as-built dossier and user-friendliness

‘I’d definitely recommend Hysopt because of its dynamic as-built dossier. In a building that’s constantly changing, it’s important to be able to interpret all the data correctly and seethe results straight away. It means you can control the energy distribution and hydraulic systems properly. It’s also a very user-friendly package; it’s easy to operate and you don’t need to be a technology nerd to be able to understand and follow everything. Anyone who works with basic technology can do what they need with Hysopt software,’ concludes De Man.

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