Health Care HVAC

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Changing laws, advanced technologies, and an aging population are just a few factors driving the cost consciousness of the healthcare industry today.

Now that many of us are back from the annual ASHRAE and AHR Expo conference, our minds may be jangling from having seen an array of innovative technologies utilizing the cloud, smartphones, and demand automation.

St. Luke's Cataract & Laser Institute continues to pioneer the use of ultraviolet (UV) germicidal irradiation light systems for disinfecting surgery rooms and promoting clean HVAC system coils.

Carilion Clinic is a not-for-profit health care organization based in Roanoke, VA. In line with their mission to improve the health of the communities they serve, and with the intent of becoming a teaching facility, Carilion Clinic set upon upgrading their operating rooms and related existing HVAC systems at the Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in Christiansburg, VA.

Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, MA, opened as a small community medical facility in 1884.

Atypical load profile for a hospital might show heat energy increases in the winter, with electric demand peaks in the summer as seen in Figures 1 and 2.

As a physician, I say, “Yes.” However, building managers and engineers sometimes answer differently.

What should hospital facilities prioritize — maintaining healthy IAQ or decreasing energy consumption?

This month, the focus is on high-performance health care, and so it got me thinking about IAQ and infection control (IC) within hospi-tals.

How often has an AHU or system been reused as part of a building renovation project and/or to expand the area served by the associated unit to provide additional air conditioning or heating?