Engineered Systems - January 2009 - (Page 48) This cooling technology continues to expand its presence in the United States. Here, the author delves into the functional criteria and operational benefits for using chilled beams, highlighting the system at one medical school’s large research facility. BY GEOFFREY P. MCMAHON, P.E., LEED® AP he limitations of today’s economy place an even greater premium on strategies to optimize capital investment. Innovations in the design of the University of Washington School of Medicine’s new laboratory building on its South Lake Union campus in Seattle (UW Medicine Phase 2) allow it to operate with greater efficiency, both spatially and functionally. Research laboratories such as this fall squarely into a category of buildings in which the support provided by the facility and its mechanical and electrical systems is critical to the successful work of the building’s users. Innovative science requires innovative facilities. With a strong focus on energy efficiency — indeed, sustainability — in a building type known for high energy consumption, the use of chilled beam technology in this world-class science facility is itself a fitting innovation. CHILLED BEAM TECHNOLOGY, DEFINED … The term “chilled beam,” which may seem to connote a structural device, is actually an efficient and sustainable HVAC technology that has been used in Europe and Australia for some time, primarily in commercial and academic environments. Simply put, a chilled beam is a convective cooling technology that can be configured as either a passive or active device to remove T FIGURE 1: Chilled beams installed over the lab benches at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, South Lake Union Campus in Seattle, capture the heat plume from the bench-mounted equipment. (Photo courtesy of Ben Benschneider.) 48 En gi neer ed S y stem s January 2009
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