Posted: 1/13/2020
Retro-commissioning optimizes HVAC equipment, technology at new hospital
When Parkland Memorial Hospital transitioned to its new 2.5 million-square foot medical campus in 2015, the complex was hailed as a state-of-the-art healthcare facility. The hospital, along with four other buildings on the new campus, have been awarded LEED Gold™ certification recognizing reduced water and energy usage, use of building materials made from recycled content, improved air quality and other sustainability measures.
Despite these energy efficient features, the hospital continued to increase energy usage since becoming operational. Seeing opportunities to optimize energy efficiency, Parkland brought in a third party in 2017 to begin a 2-year process to retro-commission the building. The result is a projected $1 million per year in energy savings. That’s a sustainability impact of enough energy to power 739 homes.
“Energy efficient features that are installed in a building provide the foundation for energy savings, but the system must be managed to operate optimally,” explained Michael Wood, CHFM, CHSP, CHEP, Director, Facilities Support Services. “Building usage can play a major role in how systems operate both individually and as a whole. Small changes throughout the system can lead to major system impacts and increased energy use if not managed properly over time.”
Retro-commissioning, also known as ‘retrofit,’ is a process that seeks to improve how building equipment and systems operate and function together. Retro-commissioning should occur shortly after the building is occupied, particularly if there is a major increase in occupants or activity.
Parkland has put measures in place to address building commissioning for new construction projects that go beyond the traditional commissioning process, Wood stated. “Once a new building becomes operational, it will be recommissioned based on its new operational state. This ensures that the building’s energy systems are operating optimally using a comprehensive approach that addresses how the entire system functions in an occupied state.”
With nearly 10,000 people in the hospital campus buildings at any given time following opening, there was a significant change from the conditions in which the hospital was originally commissioned during construction, Wood said. Using a phased approach, Parkland was able to address air balancing issues as well as provide substantial energy savings to the hospital.
The project identified operational improvements resulting in:
• Reduction of hot and cold calls
• Optimization of HVAC equipment
• Pro-active awareness of equipment failures
• Real-time monitoring of energy use that allows staff to proactively adjust equipment for optimal performance
In addition, engineering staff received further education on HVAC systems maintenance, updated system hardware, troubleshooting and long-term management of the HVAC systems.
The project has improved the patient and staff experience by adjusting outside air flow to increase energy savings and safety, creating alarm points to help staff be more proactive in addressing issue, and improving fault detection methods, such as built-in tests to trigger alarms for manual intervention or initiate automatic recovery of energy systems. The retrofit project realized immediate savings with an estimated simple payback in 13 months.
To learn more about Parkland services, visit www.parklandhospital.com.