Medical Center in New York.
New York University Medical Center (NYUMC) includes a school of medicine and two hospitals—Tisch Hospital and the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. For more than 150 years, the medical school has operated a center for biomolecular medicine and a center for AIDS research. In addition to diagnosis and treatment, hospitals offer reconstructive plastic surgery services. People with skin cancer are treated here. There are also educational and research programs dedicated to rehabilitation after spinal cord injury, stroke and Alzheimer’s syndrome. There are other directions too.
At the end of 2003, work began on two main projects within the medical center. This is the construction of the Smilov Research Center, the new laboratories of which will amount to 14.9 thousand square meters. meters. The obsolete control and management system is also being modernized, which covers 13 existing buildings of the University, the total area of which is 279 thousand square meters. meters. These two projects are expected to be completed as quickly as possible.
NYU is committed to long-term relationships with organizations that install and maintain building control systems. The biggest problem the university would like to solve is finding a service provider who can precisely predict the needs of the medical center complex. To do this, it is necessary to create a flexible system that takes into account changes in the composition of the residential and non-residential stock. Yes, cutting costs is important, but the university is looking for a supplier that not only has the necessary technical capabilities, but also project management skills. It is also necessary to create a customer service department.
NYU decided that it was necessary to have a single provider for both operations and maintenance. The BACnet protocol-based system was chosen after numerous discussions with service providers and its purpose is to modernize the obsolete management of building control systems, as well as to equip the new laboratory at the Smilov Research Center with control systems.
The solution to this problem is significantly complicated by such a factor as the geographical location of the university. Throughout its 150-year history, the university has grown through a wide variety of buildings, interconnected by basements and tunnels.
It has become common practice for new buildings to be built adjacent to existing ones. Depending on the task, the extensions had different heights. As a result, floors are connected at different levels — a transition from the fifth floor of one building can transport a visitor to the fourth floor of an adjacent building. Determining which rooms go with which is sometimes difficult.
The varied nature of the work of the medical center requires the creation of various air conditioning zones. The medical center is equipped with hospital wards, operating rooms, visitor rooms, wards for tuberculosis patients and laboratories. Each such air conditioning zone requires the creation of precise microclimate parameters, including room pressure. This is necessary to prevent airborne transmission.
The medical center, which has become the heart of the university campus, is equipped with a BAS (building automation system) building automation system based on the open BACnet protocol. The newly built university premises required the installation of additional servers, the laying of new fiber optic lines, as well as the integration of seven refrigeration units and the replacement of 240 DDC controllers (direct digital control). Thirteen operator workstations and seven touch screens will allow control of both on-campus and remote buildings — all using a single BACnet system.
The campus renovation began with a comprehensive inspection of all 240 control panels. Previously installed DDC controllers turned out to be from several manufacturers. Based on the inspection results, individually configured DDC system controllers were manufactured that control modular equipment using the BACnet protocol. Then, custom software was developed according to the specifications and operating conditions. Building management system suppliers have contacted third-party manufacturers to integrate their custom systems into the new BACnet-based system. For this purpose, special gateways were used to convert signals from different protocols.
During work at the medical center, manual switches were used to regulate the humidity in the rooms. During this period, the previous DDC controllers were disabled, dismantled and replaced with new ones. The sensors were connected to the campus network only after the local climate control system had been verified and commissioned. After replacing all 240 control panels, technicians quickly completed installation of the entire system.
In operating rooms, where temperature, humidity and pressure drop are especially critical, precision devices were installed to monitor the required microclimate parameters. An automated workstation with an Internet connection allows operating nurses to control the microclimate from a central console using a regular Web browser, and, if necessary, schedule preventive procedures to maintain the functionality of the equipment.
Based on the records, medical center staff can analyze statistics over a long period of time. The graphs shown here illustrate how closely the actual temperature matches the settings. This allows us to create comfortable conditions for patients.
New York University operates two laboratories of the third level of protection (biosafety level 3, or BSL-3). The level of biological control increases with the number of measures applied. Thus, the BSL-3 laboratory is equipped with three levels of protection, allowing it to work with local or exotic bacteria that can cause serious or even fatal illness. The specialists who installed the equipment underwent special training and wore protective clothing, a mask and gloves while working.
Looking ahead, NYU plans to enter into a ten-year strategic agreement with an HVAC service company to support its maintenance automation needs. The agreement is expected to include new construction as well as maintenance and operations. This also includes updating the system when expanding the area. NYU Medical Center now has a completely updated, building-wide building automation system that provides climate control for operating rooms, patient rooms, executive offices, and BSL-3 laboratories.
The new system efficiently processes the powerful flow of information and collects data in an archive. These archives allow staff to reconstruct conditions before and after an alarm was received, allowing analysis of the cause of the alarm and the impact of disruptions on hospital operations. Additional equipment, such as fire alarms, emergency power generators, air conditioners, can now be fully integrated into the system with the open BACnet protocol. The medical center staff is able to expand the control system without being tied to a specific manufacturer of its components. Both the modification of the previous system and the installation of a new one are carried out without disrupting the university’s operating hours. The proposed agreement means the medical center is committed to the long-term goal of making campus buildings safer to use and more comfortable for patients, staff and visitors.
“The search for advanced technologies was not the only problem in choosing a service provider. We selected our vendor based on its ability to meet the project’s requirements, and the BACnet protocol was a good fit for our potential needs,” said Richard Cohen, a spokesman for New York University.
Translated with permission from ASHRAE Journal, November 2006.
(c). American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
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