530
Cost Base: Description of Hospitals Studied
532.4
HEATING-VENTILATION-COOLING
532.4.1
General
All of the projects have repeated nursing floors. Memphis, in addition to
the tower wards, has two two-story wings of psychiatric wards and an
isolated circular intensive care unit, which are on separate systems from
the tower wards.
All of the nursing areas except for those at Watsonville utilize induction
units in the bedrooms and ducted systems for interior areas. In the Miami
VA hospital the induction units are in a ceiling plenum space adjoining the
interior corridor; in all of the others they are below the windows. This
accounts for the relatively small amount of ductwork and distribution cost
in Miami, resulting in the least costly system of all of the hospitals studied.
The Watsonville Community Hospital has a system ducted from rooftop
fans down the outside walls of the bathrooms and then through reheat
coils above the bathroom ceilings to each bedroom. No air is returned.
This system results in extensive ductwork and air handing units and
produces the highest unit cost.
532.4.2
Miami, Florida, VA Hospital
The Miami nursing areas contain a preponderance of five-bed rooms and
are cooled and ventilated by a very simple and compact system of
induction units in suspended ceilings adjoining bedroom corridors. Heat
has never been required since the hospital was occupied in February
1968 but is available through the two-pipe induction system. Interior
spaces are served by ducts from mixing boxes. Exhaust air from
bedrooms is circulated through the hung ceiling plenum into the plumbing
riser shaft at each bathroom to a fan on the roof. The system requires a
very small amount of ductwork and air-handling equipment, but does call
for more plaster ceiling than the others. If a need arises for large rooms to
be partitioned into smaller rooms, it is unlikely that the system can be
adapted.
High-pressure, dual-duct systems with terminal mixing boxes are used
typically in all medical areas except for deep therapy and central sterile
which are served by low-pressure, single-zone system. The surgical suite
is provided with individual room reheat and humidification from a low-
pressure, single-zone system. There is another low-pressure, single-zone
system for the auditorium and cafeteria, and a similar arrangement with
tempered air for the laundry and kitchen.
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