The project “Execution of Energy Efficiency Initiatives in 9 State-Owned Buildings in Melaka” project is an initiative by Melaka State Government initiated by State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN) and is managed by Melaka Green Technology Corporation (MGTC). The finance of project and retrofit work was carried out by Danish Energy Efficiency Partners Sdn. Bhd. There are nine buildings under this initiative and were audited in 2014. The retrofit works of three of them, namely Putra Specialist Hospital, Wisma Negeri and Melaka Sentra have been completed in 2016. The total project value is about MYR18.5 million.

Putra Specialist Hospital is a privately operated hospital, owned by the Melaka State Government in Malaysia. It was commissioned in 1995 and is a 14-storey building with a combination of Podium, Annex and Tower Blocks. The hospital operates on a 24-hours basis. The total gross floor area (GLA) for the entire building complex is 31,717 m2 while the air-conditioned area is about 65% of it. The baseline monthly average was about 590,000 kWh/month and the average maximum demand was around 1,210 kW.

Before the retrofitting work, the hospital had a low efficiency air-cooled chiller system and an electric hot water system which was unable to supply hot water at required temperature – 55 0C. Further, the operating theatres were frequently facing issues in not being able to achieve the required temperature and relative humidity setting. The major areas identified for retrofit includes the upgrading of the chiller plant system, AHU systems, optimisation of room temperature, the replacement of fluorescent lamps to LED lamps and the upgrading of electric heating system to a combination solar hot water and heat pump system. Combining solar hot water to an electrical heat pump not only supplied the required heat to the hospital but achieved at a very high efficiency – 5 times more efficient than baseline.

The project achieved  energy savings of 2,630,000 kWh/year, which is equivalent to 36% reduction in total energy consumption. Further, the Peak Demand was reduced by 32% ensuring proper Demand Side Management is achieved at the hospital.