The codes and standards aren’t what they used to be when it comes to ventilation requirements. It might also be time to reconsider real-life occupancies with regard to design demands. Is there room to tighten up and boost efficiencies while maintaining adequate airflows?
A pre-retrofit report card helped this major Chicago health care facility chart a smart course of treatment for its HVAC. After improvements for chillers, cooling towers, refrigerants, pumps, and more, the hospital’s central plant upgrade now looks forward to long-term savings, cleaner operations with streamlined maintenance, and better reliability.
This month, a consultant and NFPA committee chairman looks at the major items involved in a hospital’s life safety design. Like the fire risks themselves, the assorted relevant codes are evolving with regard to specifics like smoke dampers. HVAC wall penetrations, alarm zoning, and response plans are just three other aspects to consider in this demanding design environment.
In which CFD modeling lets us compare two possible design configurations for ventilation in a hospital patient room, yielding some similarities and perhaps surprising differences in what each configuration means for pathogen control and occupant comfort.
We’ve made some progress, but the fight against hospital-acquired infection (HAI) remains long and uphill. Here, we look at various risks and strategies, putting some thoughts on a wise approach to humidification in the context of the HAI battle.