In the spring of 2011, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville needed to update its HVAC equipment. However, the work needed to be achieved under a very tight deadline.
Today, many state institutions of higher learning and healthcare facilities face reduced budgets, aging infrastructure, and rising energy costs. According to the EPA, colleges and universities spend close to $2 billion each year on energy. These institutions are seeking innovative ways to renew facilities, improve energy efficiency, and reduce energy costs. One option gaining some renewed momentum is the Energy Savings Performance Contract (EPSC).
Following the installation of an ERV, odor and cooling complaints disappear at CoxHealth's Turner Center.
April 24, 2013
A multi-function health services facility in Springfield, MO is a showcase for sophisticated air quality management. The Turner Center is a unit of the CoxHealth system and is part of the Cox South health care campus in south Springfield.
High-performance solutions result in savings, LEED® certifications, and better health care Spectrum Health is the largest not-for-profit health care system in West Michigan with nine hospitals, more than 180 service sites, and 1,983 licensed beds system-wide.
“Quality of care” is more than just a phrase at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital (CRMH), one of the largest hospitals in Virginia. CRMH defines quality of care using six characteristics: excellence in care, patient safety, clinical outcome, technology advances, accessibility, and patient experience.
Done right, going modular can be a good fit for hospitals in search of efficiency. From design to specification to pre-shipment, the process demands engineering attention to the right details at the right times. Get a designer’s notes from experience and learn how to take advantage of what a modular central plant can offer.
Sometimes, what seems like a need for more cooling capacity could be the need to take a hard look and fine-tune the existing chiller plant. With a hospital expansion coming up, the team on this UMass Memorial Health Care project avoided adding up to 120 tons of capacity with tactics that included attacking inefficiencies in piping, valves, cooling towers, and controls.
Follow the engineer at a large hospital complex in Phoenix as he pursues less disruptive and less expensive ways to boost BAS performance and budget wellness, all in the name of patient comfort.
With a wide spectrum of specialized spaces and particular outside air requirements, a hospital’s en-ergy-efficiency efforts start when arranging which areas go where. From there, the author leaves no technology unturned — chilled beams, geothermal, DOAS, VRF, etc. — in evaluating which ap-proaches might best contribute proper ventilation and humidity in which environments, with an eye on minimizing facility energy consumption.
New York City is certainly renowned for the quantity and variety of tall buildings towering over the Manhattan skyline. Many of these structures are at a point where age has taken its toll on mechanical systems and now require replacement. Even if they are still operational, today’s new A/C systems are more energy efficient, making it cost effective for changeout.