THE CHALLENGE

The aging air-handling units serving this community hospital’s surgical center offered poor temperature and humidity control, and surgeons felt that operating conditions were unacceptable. Moving or shutting down the surgical center to replace the units wasn’t an option, however.

KED SOLUTION

Our first step was to build a rooftop penthouse to contain new air-handling equipment, then extend ductwork throughout the building. That enabled us to remove the old units and install two new 15,000 cfm units over the course of one weekend. Surgery resumed Monday morning with no delays. We also installed a glycol chiller to meet surgeons’ requirements for low-temperature, low-humidity conditions. Other upgrades included new electrical service and distribution, new sprinklers and plumbing modifications in the penthouse and an interface between the air-handling units and the hospital’s fire-alarm system.