It’s not a new technology, but it’s more popular than ever. While VRF is providing engineers and building owners with a financial payback, the benefits go beyond energy efficiency.
When the City of Tallahassee and Leon County collaborated on a consolidated public safety complex to deal with local emergencies, the stakes were high and the need for robust yet adaptable HVAC was, too. Another collaboration within the design — chilled beams and pump technology — represented a key component of the mechanical system as it stands ready for severe swings in occupancy and weather alike.
A pre-retrofit report card helped this major Chicago health care facility chart a smart course of treatment for its HVAC. After improvements for chillers, cooling towers, refrigerants, pumps, and more, the hospital’s central plant upgrade now looks forward to long-term savings, cleaner operations with streamlined maintenance, and better reliability.
In which CFD modeling lets us compare two possible design configurations for ventilation in a hospital patient room, yielding some similarities and perhaps surprising differences in what each configuration means for pathogen control and occupant comfort.