Air Distribution

NCH Bonita Freestanding Emergency Department

The NCH Bonita Freestanding Emergency Department is a 41,000 square foot, two-story medical facility which includes a 24/7 emergency room and outpatient imaging center on the first floor and physicians' offices and an outpatient surgery center on the second floor. Tom Barrow Company was involved with the NCH Bonita FSED project from the initial design through its completion.

Project: NCH Bonita Freestanding Emergency Department

Location: Bonita Springs, FL

Architect: Studio+

Engineer: Affiliated Engineers SE, Inc.

General Contractor: Waltbillig & Hood

Contractor: B&I Contractors

The operating room design was a challenging part of this project, with two light/equipment booms within the “critical zone” of coverage for the operating room table. The critical zone of coverage is defined as the area of primary supply diffuser extending 12” beyond the footprint of the table on each side. With no more than 30% of this area used for non-diffusers – lights, gas, equipment booms, etc. (ASHRAE 170 -2017 – 7.4.1b), a standard design with a hard ceiling and individually spaced laminar flow diffusers would not meet the 70% diffuser coverage requirement at the OR table.

Tom Barrow Company worked with the engineer to present a solution using the Price Ultrasuite® OR Ceiling system. The product offered a customizable air distribution and lighting solution specifically engineered for hospital operating rooms. This product provides close to 90% perforated diffuser area. With the high percentage of diffuser area in the “critical zone,” the engineer was able to meet the 70% coverage requirement defined in ASHRAE 170.

Instead of individual ducted diffusers, the Price Ultrasuite® is a plenumized system with 1-2 inlet duct connections. The diffusers integrate high-output LED lighting combined with precision equalized laminar airflow which eliminates the traditional “light ring,” opening valuable ceiling space for surgical equipment while optimizing contaminant removal from the surgical zone. Conforming to all ASHRAE 170 requirements, Ultrasuite® was the perfect combination of performance, aesthetics, and efficiency for this project.

The HVAC system utilized six Temtrol Roof Top Units. These fully custom units included continuously welded aluminum tread plate recessed floors with drains and perimeter lip, factory mounted Yaskawa multi-VFD panels, LED marine lights, and a FANWALL design for system redundancy. One of the units also included a desiccant energy wheel to transfer moisture from the supply air stream to the return air stream to help with dehumidification.

Equipment Used:

The design of the building included Custom Temtrol Rooftop Air Handling Units, Price Venturi Air Valves, Price Terminal Units, Price Air Distribution, and two state-of-the-art Price UltraSuite® Operating Rooms. Tom Barrow Company was able to package these items along with Loren Cook Exhaust Fans, Ruskin Louvers, and Ruskin Life Safety Dampers to provide the customer and end user with a single source and single contact for all equipment and materials.

Photos by: Caronchi Photography

Center for Advanced Surgical Specialists

The Centers for Advanced Surgical Specialists is a standalone, state-of-the-art facility that is part of the Tampa Bay Surgery Center. The mission of CASS is “to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone.” The statement is fitting for the organization as well as the construction for this building. 
 

Tampa Medical Pavilion - Center for Advanced Surgical Specialists, Tampa, FL

Project: Center for Advanced Surgical Specialists

Location: Tampa, FL

Owner: MK Development, LLC

Architect: Mason Blau and Associates, Inc.

Engineer: APG Engineering

General Contractor: Bay Area Building Solutions

Mechanical Contractor: Southern Equipment Corporation

Products/Manufacturers: Price Industries / Antec Critical Controls, Valves and Operating Room Ceiling Systems, Price Air Devices, Loren Cook Fans 
 

The facility utilized 14 VFX low pressure Venturi Blade Valves, four Constant Volume Valves, and 17 VAV Boxes to control air flow and temperature on the first floor. The second floor added 25 VAV Boxes and about 190 commercial grilles for the patient rooms. The five operating rooms include 85 Price Industries Laminar Flow Diffusers and Price Industries Heavy Duty Operating Room Ceiling Systems. The Price integrated ceiling systems were 18’ x 14’ and field assembled with bolts, washers, and gaskets for a simple installation. The coordinated design of the ceiling systems minimized field issues and yielded excellent form and fit.

APG Engineering designed the building mechanical systems, and Cyril John (Tom Barrow Company, Tampa) provided support for the critical systems for the patient and operating rooms. In addition to the Price Industries/Antec Valves, VAV Boxes, Controls, Room Monitors with Alarms, Operating Room Ceilings, and Air Devices, the facility also has several Loren Cook ECM equipped fans for variable flow control. With such a diverse offering of top quality HVAC products serving the healthcare market, it was a natural fit for Tom Barrow Company to provide support to APG Engineering during design and ultimately partner with Southern Equipment Corporation for construction of the Center for Advanced Surgical Specialists.

Jim Walker with Tom Barrow Company had the opportunity to work on this project with Southern Equipment and shared, “Southern Equipment has always been great to work with and has always risen the occasion to get complicated projects installed perfectly.” He further shared how nice it was to “see the complex made easy with Price Industries/Antec Critical Controls products.”

Hadley Park Indoor Tennis Courts

The Hadley Park Tennis Center is located in the heart of North Nashville, within walking distance of Tennessee State University. The facility consists of nine outdoor hard courts, four indoor courts and a practice wall. The Tennis Center offers programs for almost any age and ability level. Clinics, lessons, and league play are all available to the public. To allow for play throughout the year, the indoor courts are housed in a newly renovated tennis bubble.

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Contractor: S.M. Lawrence

Engineer: Power Management

Products/Manufacturers: Vertical Outdoor Makeup Air Units/AbsolutAire, ERV/Loren Cook, Condensing Unit/Tempmaster

The existing indoor tennis bubble was demolished, and a replacement was built in its place. This new facility includes newly painted courts, restrooms, and an entrance way. As part of its construction, the design team needed to ensure that sufficient conditioned and ventilation air would be brought into the space, while keeping mechanical system efficiency and energy conservation as a consideration. The outdoor mounted AbsolutAire Vertical Makeup Air Units and Loren Cook Co. ERVs were all used as basis of design to accomplish this goal. Tempmaster Condensing Units were used in conjunction with the AbsolutAire units.

Due to its construction, the new tennis bubble would not allow for roof mounted mechanical equipment and associated ductwork. The AbsolutAire units allowed for a large quantity of outside, return, and supply air to be introduced into the space without using ductwork. The air was conditioned via the use of A-Frame DX cooling coils and direct fired gas heat internal to the AbsolutAire units. The Cook ERVs provided additional space conditioning and ventilation while providing energy savings when the environment allowed for it.

Tom Barrow Company’s Nashville office has worked on previous projects with Power Management and S.M. Lawrence. This positive history allowed for a unified system design and a smooth project outcome.

“Although this project was not without its challenges, once the units were up and running, they now provide a comfortable climate for year-round tennis clinics and private lessons. It was great to be a part of a construction project which improved a highly used sports facility in a rapidly developing neighborhood of Nashville.”- Matt Huff, Outside Sales - TBCo Nashville

Site Rendering

Florida Polytechnic University IST Building

Florida Polytechnic University is located in the heart of Florida’s high tech corridor within 60 miles of more than 11,000 technology and engineering firms. The Innovation, Science & Technology Building is the architectural flagship of the Florida Polytechnic University campus. The design of the building is a space age looking masterpiece and it presented some challenges with its unique shape, high arching atrium and large heat loads.

Florida Polytechnic University IST Building Project: Florida Polytechnic University – Innovation, Science and Technology Building (IST)

Location: Lakeland, FL

Architects: Santiago Calatrava Festina Lente, LLC – NY; Alfonso Architects – Tampa

Engineer: TLC Engineering for Architecture – Tampa

Contractor: Skanska USA Mechanical

Contractor: Tappouni Mechanical Services Inc.

Sheet Metal Contractor: Wyatt Fitzgibbons Sheet Metal

The Innovation, Science & Technology Building is the architectural flagship of the Florida Polytechnic University campus. The design of the building is a space age looking masterpiece and it presented some challenges with its unique shape, high arching atrium and large heat loads. This along with tremendous diversity of spaces, it was quickly apparent that a typical mixed air distribution system would not be appropriate throughout the facility. Recognizing the problem, the design team looked to Price Industries to assist with developing an architecturally pleasing yet energy efficient solution.

Designers at Price Industries performed Computational Fluid Dynamic modeling of the facility. Thermal Displacement Ventilation was determined the best system for the atria (large open areas) and professor offices (quiet, comfort) while mixed flow air distribution was used in classrooms and other spaces.

Displacement Ventilation is a stratified air diffusion method where much of the stratified air in the unoccupied spaces is left alone. Supply air, slightly warmer than with a mixed air system, is introduced at a low velocity which causes minimal induction and mixing. Buoyancy forces in the room, generated by heat sources in the occupied space like the occupants, computer equipment and warm windows move heat up and away from the occupied space.

The system is extremely energy efficient, comfortable and quiet. As Displacement Ventilation systems had yet to be widely applied in Florida, Mike Tappouni, PE and President of Tappouni Mechanical, was at first skeptical of the technology. He and others from the construction Team visited the Price Technical Center where they gained further understanding of Displacement Ventilation as well as insight on installation methods of the custom diffusers.

The installation has been completed, and several years have passed. James Tapley of Tappouni Mechanical recently commented that he hasn’t heard a thing about the ventilation system at Florida Poly. This brought a smile to all as that is what contractors would like to have on every installation. James further commented that the definition of building comfort is being completely unaware of the mechanical system.

Displacement Ventilation at the IST building is the right comfort energy solution – the air devices blend in with the unique architecture and the slow moving air is comfortable, quiet and energy efficient.