At the recently held International Conference, 'AIC TECH 2019' on "Sustainability in Practice – Building Sustainable Hospitals," organised in the national capital by ASHRAE India Chapter, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers, experts stressed on various aspects of hospitals such as Energy Management, Modular Constructions, Waste Management, Indoor Air Quality, Smoke Control and Life Safety among others and emphasised on paying more attention to sustainability.

"Hospital industry in India is expected to grow CAGR 16-17 per cent from the US $61.79 billion in FY17 to the US $132.84 billion by 2022. The power requirement would also subsequently increase by at least 50 per cent from the present, if not by double," said KD Singh, Past President, ASHRAE India Chapter.

"We need a sustainable growth to reduce investment both Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operational Expenditure (OPEX), in our power infrastructure, thereby conserving the national and natural resources," he further added.

The conference intended to provide a direction for all stakeholders including the government, private promoters, designers, operators, manufacturers, system integrators and all individuals to provide sustainable solutions for growth in the hospital sector.

"I emphasise the need for sustainability in hospitals when evaluating viable solutions for providing quality healthcare for citizens. High-quality standards can be achieved by committing to predefined time and cost benchmarks. This will not only maintain quality but also ensure timely completion of projects," said Shivinder Mohan Singh, Founder, Fortis Healthcare, who was the chief guest at the event.

During the different technical sessions of the conference, industry experts, stakeholders in hospitals, chief engineers and project manager of hospitals, decision-makers from various user organisations, leading consulting firms, key persons from the government and public enterprises, contractors and manufacturers shared their views on how to make hospitals sustainable.

In Brief