Project Profile: Providence Newberg Medical Center
Part 1: Revisiting the Performance of First LEED Gold Hospital
Part 2: Hospital Design Team Focuses on Computer-Generated Models
Part 3: Hospital Operates on 100 Percent Renewables, Sells Power
Part 4: HVAC, Lighting, Plumbing Initiatives Fuel LEED Certification
Part 5: First LEED Gold Hospital Now a High-Performance Building
Part 6: LEED for Healthcare Addresses Unique Operational Requirements
HVAC, Lighting, Plumbing Initiatives Fuel LEED Certification
By Chris Matt, Managing Editor - Print & E-Media - June 2011 - Green
In addition to its green-power initiatives, the team focused on lighting, HVAC, and plumbing systems as targets for sustainability.
Lighting. The design of the three-story medical center aims to maximize daylight and reduce lighting-system demands. The project team specified occupancy sensors primarily for office spaces and photocells in common areas surrounded by glass facades.
Water use. The medical center features low-flow plumbing fixtures and high-efficiency toilets. Its landscaped areas, irrigated with low-flow sprinkler heads on timers, feature drought-resistant plants and grasses.
HVAC. Despite bringing in 100 percent outside air for infection control, the medical center's HVAC system is performing in an energy-efficient manner, due to technologies such as: variable-frequency drives on fan and pump motors; a glycol heat-recovery system that captures about 17 degrees out of the facility's exhaust air to help heat the incoming air during colder months; two energy-efficient chillers; and condensing hot-water boilers.
