Turku University Hospital is meeting the future with a lower carbon footprint

“The new geothermal heating systems have reduced CO₂ emissions from heating by 44 per cent, or about 300 tonnes per year. Installing geothermal heating is taking responsibility for the climate. It’s also economically profitable,” says Jyrki Kankaanpää, Head of Asset Management for Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland.

The hospital’s three buildings are from 1934, 1968 and 1984. There are specialist care wards, a medical centre and a maternity centre. Several of the systems had reached their end of life and spare parts had been purchased from various suppliers at various times.
“Hemsö did an enormous job by just determining the status,” says Jyrki Kankaanpää.

The hospital continued to operate throughout the entire project

Refurbishing a large hospital without affecting its operations is a real challenge. Ventilation, heating and all other technical functions have to work perfectly. Some phases of the project were therefore conducted at nights and weekends to cause as little disruption as possible. Standstills that were needed to change the ventilation system were scheduled for those times when the building needed the least amount of heating or cooling.

Flexible and clear

“One thing that made the project so successful was clear roles and responsibilities. Another success factor was that Hemsö made sure that all parties were involved in the planning. That ensured a smooth process and minimised disruptions,” says Jyrki Kankaanpää. 

Now Turku University Hospital has both geothermal and district heating, which optimises the building’s energy consumption. The combination of two heating systems makes supply more reliable. In addition, we installed new fans that take care of the waste heat used to heat the hospital.   

“Now we have better energy efficiency and our indoor air quality has improved,” says Jyrki Kankaanpää.