暖通空调设计的目的是以最低成本为建筑居住者提供舒适健康的环境。尽管这一定义适用于所有类型的占用，但医院的设计更具挑战性，因为许多医院空间存在健康风险，通过暖通空调系统消除或减少这些风险也应得到解决。舒适度可以通过控制温度、湿度、空气流动和噪音水平来实现。在医院，温度和湿度可能成为患者治疗的因素。通过充分的空气分配，将污染风险降至最低，将空气从污染较少的空间流向污染较多的空间，尽可能将污染物排放到污染源附近，向建筑物的每个空间引入最少的外部空气，并通过过滤和其他清洁装置清洁空气，可以实现健康的环境。 这些条件可以通过设计可靠的系统来实现，不仅在正常运行期间，而且在异常或灾难性事件期间，并且能够适应未来的变化，易于维护。通过降低每个成本要素可以实现最低成本:投资成本、每年的经常性运营成本，如能源和维护；未来非经常性成本，如备件和更换；因入住率变化而产生的未来非经常性成本。为了实现所有这些目标，应以系统的方式进行设计，在规划阶段在项目开始时定义设计标准，并根据使用寿命选择暖通空调系统- 周期成本分析。单位:双引文:研讨会，ASHRAE交易，第106卷，pt。2.

The aim of the HVAC design is to provide a comfortable and healthy environment for the building occupants at a minimum cost. Although this definition applies to all kind of occupancies, the design of a hospital is more challenging because many of the hospital spaces present a health risk, and the elimination or the reduction of these risks through the HVAC systems should be addressed as well. The comfort can be achieved by controlling the temperature, the humidity, the air movement, and the level of noise. In hospitals, the temperature and humidity could become factors in patient therapy. A healthy environment can be attained by minimizing the risk of contamination thorough adequate air distribution, directing the flow of air from less contaminated space to the more contaminated space, evacuating the pollutants as close as possible to the source, introducing the minimum outside air to every space of the building, and cleaning the air through filtration and other cleaning devices. These conditions can be achieved at all times by designing systems that are reliable, not only during normal operation, but also during unusual or catastrophic events and are adaptable to future changes and easy to be maintained. A minimum cost can be accomplished by reducing each of the cost elements: investment cost, annually recurring operation costs, such as energy and maintenance; future nonrecurring costs, such as spare parts and replacements; future non-recurring costs due to occupancy changes. To achieve all these goals, the design should be approached in a systematic manner, by defining the design criteria at the beginning of the project during the planning phase and selecting the HVAC systems based on life-cycle cost analysis.Units: Dual