Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
To increase patient comfort and safety, the new hospital uses only outdoor air, not recycled air.
“From an energy standpoint, 100 percent fresh air is expensive,” said Larry Kollerer, senior project manager. “You’re bringing in air at 55 degrees, heating it to 70 degrees, and then blowing it back out the roof.”
The solution? A state-of-the-art ventilation system that uses wrap-around heat exchangers in the air stream. As air is exhausted, energy is recovered – either heat or cold – and used to preheat or pre-cool the new incoming air as it is brought back through the air handlers.
Those hard-working air handlers have the air volume capacity to inflate six Goodyear blimps per minute.
On a warm day, to keep patient rooms comfortable, air in each room must be exchanged with fresh air 10 times per hour. But in mid-winter in the middle of the night, only three changes per hour are required. By installing “smart” variable volume systems, the amount of air going in and out of a room remains balanced on an as-needed basis.
“This is an example of technology that’s both very green and very good management,” Kollerer said. “This system was more expensive up front. But it’s an investment that, as energy costs continue to rise, will pay for itself over time.”
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