Energy-Efficient AHU for Operating Rooms
AHU Fan Retrofit, Indonesia
Project Overview
Operating rooms require highly controlled environments where maintaining optimal airflow and energy efficiency is essential, especially in older healthcare facilities with outdated systems.
Siloam Hospitals Group, one of Indonesia's leading healthcare providers, took a proactive approach to address this challenge by retrofitting Air Handling Units (AHUs) in several branches. The project aimed to enhance energy efficiency while ensuring consistent airflow in critical operating room environments, achieving significant energy savings without compromising performance.
In 2023, Siloam Hospitals Group's Energy Saving for Existing Buildings division partnered with ebm‑papst to assess the energy performance of AHUs in three branches: Kebon Jeruk, Semanggi, and TB Simatupang. After conducting site surveys, ebm‑papst provided tailored retrofit solutions to optimize energy consumption and improve overall system performance.
Our Solution
The project involved retrofitting Air Handling Units (AHUs) serving the operating rooms at Siloam Hospitals’ Kebon Jeruk, Semanggi, and TB Simatupang branches. The existing energy-intensive belt-driven AHUs were replaced with high-efficiency ebm‑papst EC fans to improve energy consumption and system performance.
At Kebon Jeruk, two AC belt-driven AHUs were retrofitted with RadiPac EC fans, resulting in enhanced airflow efficiency and a significant reduction in energy consumption. At Semanggi, two non-operational AHUs were upgraded with the same fan type, successfully restoring system functionality while improving overall efficiency. At TB Simatupang, three AHUs were retrofitted, also with RadiPac EC fans. One of the units required minor maintenance during the process, which slightly affected the overall energy savings for that site.
The Results
The AHU retrofits across the three hospital branches led to significant improvements in energy efficiency and system performance. By replacing outdated belt-driven fans with RadiPac EC fans, Siloam Hospital achieved an average energy saving of approximately 65% across all sites, while also enhancing airflow reliability in critical operating room environments.
The upgrades further restored functionality in previously non-operational units and improved airflow consistency—contributing to lower operational costs and better environmental performance across the hospital’s healthcare facilities.
