Consulting-Specifying Engineer - June 2008 - (Page 38)

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// required for both. The generator design also includes provisions to allow oil changes during operation, a feature typically found in primerated generators. Queen’s administrators and facilities personnel worked with the local utility on the project from the start and plan to join the utility’s load demand program. Not only does the new emergency power system offer payback in the form of sound sleep, it offers discounts and rebates on the hospital’s utility bills. Overall, the improvements made by Queen’s to the emergency power system will alleviate power concerns and allow the hospital to maintain a high level of care for Hawaii residents when they need it most. Alaska: Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Alaska’s arctic environment and seismic forces drove the design for Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. The replacement hospital is located approximately 40 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska, in Mat-Su Valley, which sits along the Castle Mountain fault. This fault has produced a major earthquake, as large as magnitude 7.0, every 700 years, according to research geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey. And a major quake is just about due. The structural engineer designed the building with 40x40-ft spread footings to help the building achieve the rigidity necessary to withstand seismic forces. These footings are monolithically tied to poured-in-place concrete shear walls that are 2-ft thick, 15-ft long, and rise to the top of the building. All internal components An arctic environment and potential seismic activity drove the design of Alaska’s Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, located in the Mat-Su Valley along the Castle Mountain Fault. Photo: Ascension Group Architects including sprinkler pipes, conduit, ducts, light fixtures, wall partitions, and medical equipment, were seismically braced. Design considerations also included daylighting, specialized insulation, and vapor barrier systems. In the winter, frigid temperatures and short days (some with only four hours of daylight) made it difficult to bring in natural light while minimizing heat transfer through the windows. The design team opted for dual-paned windows with a single argon-filled cavity, lowemissive glass, with extra large windows in the patient rooms. Interior lighting levels were enhanced to exceed international standards to Hospital hostages After a person with a gun took a physician hostage at a hospital in Wales, U.K., the hospital was besieged by police, the SWAT team, and the media. For the safety of patients and staff, all except the most critically ill were relocated to other hospitals as time wore on during the two-day-long standoff. Though resolved without incident—the man gave himself up to police negotiators—it highlighted something that the hospital’s emergency management plan didn’t anticipate: the incident occurring inside the hospital in the first place. The hospital’s next steps, similar to the increased security at most hospitals nowadays, includes extensive IP-based closed-circuit television monitoring (CCTV), panic/emergency call stations, after-hours lockdown capability of non-occupied areas, and radio communication with location tracking for security staff. offset the seasonal darkness. Outside, heated paving was incorporated into the walkways in critical areas to melt the snow. This system is served by an oversized boiler that feeds a continuous hot-water loop running beneath key sidewalks, hospital entry points, and the handicapped parking areas. All air-handling and boiler systems and accessories are powered by the emergency power system. Water vapor in the airtight conditions required in Alaska also necessitated a specialized design approach. In the winter, vapor can be trapped within the walls by the building’s exterior insulation finish system and freeze. When it melts in the spring, the water can work its way down conduit and into the receptacles. To prevent this intrusion, the team designed a vapor barrier assembly immediately behind the wallboard on the inside face of the building. Initially, the hospital was designed with independent systems for well water, pumps, water storage, and sewage holding because these systems were not available during the project at the job site. These now serve as redundant systems for emergency needs. Georgia: Sumter Regional Hospital Sometimes, planning of any kind is overwhelmed by circumstances. When a record 38 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • JUNE 2008

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Consulting-Specifying Engineer - June 2008 Contents Viewpoint Letters News M/E Roundtable No Gambling Allowed on Smoke Control in Las Vegas Be Prepared: Hospital Protections for Catastrophic Events Ready for Retail Commissioning Documents: Necessary Evil Codes & Standards Codes & Standards Case Study Equipment Lifecycles New Products Advertiser Index Green Space

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - June 2008

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