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Executive Summary
Technical Report 1 analyzes the compliance of Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center with ASHRAE Standards. The hospital is currently under construction, but began in December of 2010. It is located on the Army base of Fort Hood, Texas and is replacing the current hospital. Overall the building is over 937,000 sq ft, with multiple departments through the north clinic, south clinic, west clinic, and bed tower. The focus of the 62.1 and 90.1 evaluation is on the bed tower, levels 5 and 6. Level 5 is a medical surgery floor, and Level 6 is comprised of administrative offices. These two levels were analyzed with ASHRAE 62.1-2013 and ASHRAE 170-2013 for ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality, and ASHRAE 90.1 for the energy standard for buildings.
The army medical center complies with ASHRAE 62.1 through the prescriptive measures in chapter 5, systems and equipment. These measures include negatively pressurized exhaust ducts, ventilation system controls through the building automation system, location of outdoor air intakes and the proper sealing of a drain pan. The medical center also complies with ASHRAE 170. The major components of ASHRAE 170 were the two filtration banks required along with the high MERV filters, and the ventilation rates for procedure rooms. The medical center surpasses the ventilation rates of ASHRAE 170 for isolation and procedure rooms. This is partially due to the design team using UFC-4-510, the design criteria for medical facilities. Level 6 is not medical focused like level 5, but it does comply with ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation requirements as well as exhaust ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality.
ASHRAE 90.1 sets the minimum energy requirements for the army medical center to follow. Overall, the medical center meets the standard and even exceeds it because of the medical equipment demand for power and the medical staff’s demand for lighting. All service water heating piping meets the minimum insulation, and the mechanical equipment meets the minimum efficiencies. The evaluation of ASHRAE 62.1, 170 and ASHRAE 90.1 proves the army medical center is compliant.
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