Healthcare Existing Buildings
Building Resiliency Into 21st Century Hospitals
How can healthcare facilities managers be confident HVAC systems are operating effectively and are prepared for major storms or other disruptions? By systematically upgrading equipment before it reaches critical failure stage and planning for continual renewal of the control systems that provide the brains for your operations. HVAC systems are essential for compliance with The Joint Commission and CMS requirements, patient satisfaction, and provider comfort. As your institution increases focus on JCAHO (TJC) and Press Ganey scores, you need a reliable resource to give you an independent assessment of system performance. Cx Associates can help you solve problems, identify and plan for improvements, and deliver increased HVAC system performance for consistent IAQ to support patient outcomes, medical staff performance, and ensure resiliency in the event of infrastructure disruptions.
Upgrading Controls for the 21st Century
Your Building Automation System (BAS) is the brains of your HVAC system and like any computer system, needs to be updated regularly. Outdated control systems cannot provide the functionality you need to effectively monitor, manage and report on your hospital’s operations. Your peace of mind relies on knowing ORs are consistently operating at full compliance; modern control systems provide this by alerting you in the rare event that they go out of spec and by providing reports on OR pressure, temperature, and relative humidity for The Joint Commission at the tip of your fingers. Cx Associates’ experience developing and commissioning hospital BAS upgrades, combined with our objectivity, deliver a resource you can trust to get the job done right. Correctly planned and implemented upgrades will ensure comfort and IAQ, minimize operating costs, deliver consistent pricing from multiple vendors, and provide you with readily accessible monitoring and reporting. We know the hardware, software, and leading edge sequences of operation required to maintain compliance, rein in energy use and carry your facility into the future.
Solving Problems to Improve Operations and Satisfaction
Persistent problems with HVAC systems can result in low HCAHPS and Press Ganey scores that do not reflect the true value of your facility and can distract your staff from longer-term projects. HVAC problems lead to patient dissatisfaction, lack of JCAHO (TJC) and CMS compliance, excessive operating costs, and unnecessarily overburdened facilities staff. Cx Associates can help you diagnose and solve problems so that your system consistently performs at peak levels, satisfying all of your customers. HVAC systems are intertwined webs of equipment from the central plant down to the room thermostat. Our diagnostic skills and tools coupled with our hands-on approach (we look above the ceiling tiles) allow us to efficiently assess a system to find the root of the problem. By listening to the concerns, experiences, and needs of you and your staff we develop the practical, customer oriented, energy conscious solutions required to best resolve your issues for the long term.
Resiliency
When disaster strikes, the survival and functionality of hospital infrastructure is critical to meeting community needs and providing patient safety. Your patients and doctors rely on you to deliver power in the event of a long-term outage, provide safe drinking water when wells are contaminated and to maintain services when disaster strikes. Resiliency is fundamental to Cx Associates’ project development process allowing us to help assess the capability of your hospital’s electrical and mechanical systems to operate and provide ongoing critical services in the event of a catastrophe.
Retrofits that Deliver Persistent Benefits
Your hospital is likely an amalgamation of buildings and systems that have evolved over time and require a schedule of almost continuous system assessment and replacement. When you replace equipment you have the opportunity to ensure the new equipment and systems are well aligned with the current needs of affected end users. Focusing on current needs leads to the optimum retrofit solution rather than simply replacing in kind. When planned well, system retrofits represent a major opportunity to simply and pragmatically wring out energy use reductions and increase end user satisfaction with little or no added project cost. Because Cx Associates has experience in design, commissioning, and energy reduction verification, we are uniquely qualified to help you develop a retrofit project that will meet your needs and exceed your expectations. By understanding how to take advantage of the opportunities retrofits present, Cx Associates delivers upgrades that meet the current facility requirement and allow for future flexibility while saving energy, reducing maintenance and operations cost, and earning you the maximum available energy efficiency rebate.
