It appears we may be coming full circle. For several decades, after the passage of the Hill Burton Act, lots of hospitals were built with very little design guidance. Designers tried several different methods to heat and cool patient rooms which let to some interesting and unique designs such as high pressure inductions systems, fan coils, along with the more conventional ducted central air handlers using constant volume air flow. As the regulators put more and more restrictions on the choice of designs, the energy use efficiency suffered in hospitals.

Now there is mounting pressure to decrease the energy use intensity in hospitals. State regulators are moving to adopt more stringent energy codes, hospital administrators are seeking ways to lower utility costs, and some hospitals simply want to become more green. So we may be returning to the more efficient unitary systems that were so popular in the 50s and 60s for modern hospital design in new construction. This suggests that all of those older hospitals that are still served by these systems may be able to simply update them with modern equipment without completely replacing the existing infrastructure.

This session will discuss ways to accomplish safe and efficient ventilation for patient rooms that complies with both ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170-2008 and ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007. The session will also present some of the potential changes to Std 90.1-2007 that directly affect health care facilities.