Healthcare Design - June/July 2018 - 24

As much as the project team looked to the past
for inspiration, its sights were also set on incorporating forward-thinking, sustainable design
features, including water- and energy-saving
systems that support green efforts embraced by
residents of the region due to recent drought conditions. "They wanted us to push this facility to be
innovative and provide proper care while at the
same time be very sustainable and a little a bit of
a laboratory," says Dan Rectenwald, COO and executive architect at HGA and the firm's principalin-charge on the project.
With an owner thirsty for innovation and cutting-edge solutions, Arash Guity, chief energy engineer and associate principal at Mazzetti+GBA
(San Francisco), says the firm presented Lucile

J U N E /J U LY 2 01 8

An intricate shading system on the
façade is used to
prevent sunspots,
which can unevenly
heat up the air in
a room and throw
off the displacement
ventilation system.

Arash Guity, chief
energy engineer and
associate principal at
Mazzetti+GBA, says
displacement ventilation has the potential
not only to save money
through reduced energy and air cooling
consumption, but also
to improve indoor air
quality, which provides
better health. "That was
really a fundamental
aspect of promoting it,"
he says. So how does
it work?
In a traditional overhead mixing system,
air is introduced and
removed at the top of
the room, using a cold
supply air temperature
around 55 degrees
Fahrenheit and mixing
together all the air in
the space to get good
thermal comfort. "You

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

end up having to condition the entire volume of
the space because of the
way you introduce air into
the room," Guity says.
"Unfortunately, that's a
major source of waste in
a healthcare setting and a
relatively inefficient way
of doing it-you spend
more cooling and heating
and fan energy than you
actually need."
Displacement ventilation, on the other hand,
relies on the buoyancy effects of air where
naturally hot air rises
and cold air sinks. Air is
introduced into the room
at a warmer supplied
temperature, such as
65 degrees Fahrenheit,
which is still colder than
the room's air, so the
air will first sink to the
bottom of the room.
However, as it warms

up, it rises, meaning only
the air on the lower occupied portion of the room
needs to be conditioned.
Additionally, the vertical
movement of air through
the space, resembling
a piston-like effect,
ensures that potential
contaminants rise out of
the breathing zone and
don't get mixed within
the space.
Guity says displacement ventilation is ideal
for large spaces, such
as the entry lobby at
Lucile Packard Children's
Hospital Stanford, which
features a 30-foot-tall
stepped ceiling, because
the system conditions
only the occupied portion
of the room. The challenge for the project's
design and engineering
teams was to figure
out where to locate the
diffusors in a way that
achieved good distribution throughout the space
without detracting from
the overall architecture
and aesthetics.
Working with the
manufacturer, the designers created a custom
solution that concealed
the diffusors inside the
lobby columns. "A good
mechanical design is one
that you can't see but you
can feel," Guity says.

MORE
ONLINE:
For more on the
displacement ventilation
system at Lucile
Packard Children's
Hospital Stanford,
including how it was
used in patient rooms,
visit HCDmagazine.
com/lucile-packardventilation.

G R E E N L I G H T O N S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

SYNERGY
IN THE AIR

time around because of space constraints and the
repetitive nature of the floor plates, so designers
instead tried to "preserve the idea that every patient could have a glimpse of nature," by lowering
the window sills in the inpatient rooms and installing planters outside each window with native
plantings to attract birds and insects. "It creates
a direct relationship between the idea of healing and the experience of nature," Goodwin says.
There are also two outdoor balconies on each inpatient level-one for patients and families and
one for staff.
Nature is also a defining feature of the hospital's
wayfinding program. Inspired by the West Building's ocean-inspired approach, each floor of the
new building is identified by a specific color and
theme that represents one of California's ecoregions, including mountains, foothills, desert, valley, redwood forest, rocky shore, shallow
water, and deep ocean. "We made sure that the
colors aligned so that as families crossed over
between the buildings, they understood the wayfinding from a color perspective," Lane says.
Floor-to-ceiling murals sharing facts about
the animals and their habitats are located at each
care unit entrance, simplifying navigation and
adding a dose of education. "Lucile Packard leadership wanted the building to be a teaching tool
as well as a patient care environment, because
they believe that learning stimulates healing,"
Guenther says. Animals and nature imagery also
appear in floor graphics, artwork, and sculptures
located in the lobby and at key meeting points to
serve as wayfinding as well as positive distractions. "I see kids in the lobby of the building go
from animal to animal, petting them, lying next
to them, sitting with them," Guenther says. "It's
amazing to watch."

http://HCDmagazine.com/lucile-packard-ventilation http://www.HCDmagazine.com/lucile-packard-ventilation http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM

Healthcare Design - June/July 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - June/July 2018