620
Conclusions: Benefits
However, a discussion of the probable order of magnitude
of the anticipated savings, and their implications for total owning cost, is
presented in Section 752.
Actual long-term costs will depend to a considerable extent on
geographical and other project-specific factors. For example, HVC
operating costs will vary with climate, exterior wall design, building
orientation, local utility rates, etc. Nevertheless, certain characteristics will
have a beneficial effect regardless of local differences. The mechanical
simplicity of a single-type HVC system, for instance, will require less
elaborate training and supervision of maintenance personnel.
621.2
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
621.2.1
The Shell
By utilizing only one-half to two-thirds the number of columns typical in
conventional design and construction, the Prototype Design presents less
structural obstruction in functional spaces. Also, the provision of a service
zone accessible directly through service bays, rather than through
functional spaces, will eliminate much of the usual cross-traffic of
engineering personnel with patients and medical staff. This in turn makes
scheduling of engineering personnel time less critical.
The use of a ceiling-platform as a barrier between service and functional
zones provides required fire protection and acoustic separation without the
necessity of constructing partitions from slab to slab. Surface mounting of
services also enhances these characteristics by eliminating the many
holes in partitions produced by the conventional practice of routing
services internally.
621.2.2
Services
The decentralization of the HVC system into mechanically independent
service modules with an approximate correspondence to departmental
areas simplifies the problem of local variation in environmental
requirements, and allows the service to each module to be modified, or
even shut down, without affecting other areas of the hospital. For
example, some areas of the hospital may be provided with 100% exhaust
while others use varying amounts of return air, and each area can be
individually adjusted one way or the other.
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