Balancing Sustainability and Safety: Reducing HVAC Air Exchange Rates in Operating Rooms Without Increasing Infection Risk

jpedsurg.org

Compared to other industries, the healthcare sector disproportionately contributes to negative environmental burdens. Operating rooms (ORs) are the most energy-intensive and waste-producing areas within a hospital. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in ORs are energy intensive and designed to maintain a high rate of air exchanges. The purpose of this study was to reduce HVAC air exchange rates while balancing surgical site infections (SSI) incidence rates as a key patient safety metric.

jpedsurg.org shows its articles on its own site.

Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗

Article · Oct 2025 · 1 min read

In brief

This study examines reducing energy-intensive HVAC air exchange rates in operating rooms to improve environmental sustainability while maintaining patient safety through surgical site infection monitoring. The research addresses healthcare's environmental impact by optimizing OR ventilation systems without compromising infection control standards.

Operating rooms are the most energy-intensive hospital areas, with HVAC systems as major contributors to environmental burden.
High air exchange rates in OR HVAC systems can be reduced without compromising surgical site infection prevention.
Balancing sustainability initiatives with patient safety metrics like SSI rates is feasible in perioperative settings.
Energy reduction strategies in ORs must be evaluated against infection control outcomes to ensure patient safety.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.

Read it at the source ↗