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Happy Earth Day!
Today is the 38th annual celebration of the planet we call home, and a day to step back and think about things we can do to preserve and restore our natural resources…
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Home > Blogs > Living Green > Archives > 2008 > April > 29 > Entry
West Chester Medical Center shooting for Energy Star
I had an opportunity to tour the under-construction West Chester Medical Center today. There’s a photo gallery on the website, and I described much of what I saw in the West Chester news and issues blog, as well as in a story to be published in tomorrow’s Journal-News and Thursday’s Pulse-Journal. I also discovered a side of the story I thought appropriate for this blog. The 400,000 square-foot hospital is taking steps to earn an Energy Star - recognition awarded by the EPA and DOE to buildings that achieve high energy efficiency and low impact on the environment.
The tour of cleaner tech started on the roof, with one of the building’s massive air handlers. Think of the HVAC system in your home, but enlarge it to the size of a small home, and you have a sense of the size of the thing. The handlers are capable of changing out and filtering the hospital’s air up to 25 times an hour, and in the cold months they use the external air temperature to provide cooling for the hospital’s warmer spots.
When the weather’s too warm for this free cooling to work, a chilled water system keeps the air cool with less energy than that used by a typical expansion-type HVAC system. In addition, a cooling tower lets the heated water evaporate, keeping load off the sewer system.
Conversely, hot water for patient rooms comes courtesy of a bank of instantaneous water heaters, industrial versions of the tankless water heaters available for home use. A group of heaters small enough to be carried away by one person in a big pickup truck replaces a much larger, more energy-hungry old-tech boiler, and saves space to boot.
There are other ways Health Alliance is trying to reduce the hospital’s footprint, including plans for large-scale recycling and at least one rain garden on the property.
What was most interesting to me, though, was that these green features were volunteered during the tour. Being low impact has become a selling point, it seems; have you seen this in other area buildings? I’m keeping my eyes open to see how many more new developments make a point of showing their green sides to the world.
View photos of the new medical center
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: green building
Comments
By btslader
April 29, 2008 8:38 PM | Link to this
Hi Matt, Here is a green project I’m trying to grow right here in Dayton — it is called the Hybrid Adapter — or HYBRAD — and could provide an alternative fuel source for any passenger vehicle: http://www.hybrad.com/ I’ll stay in touch with updates. Thanks for your time,BrianBy btslader
April 29, 2008 8:39 PM | Link to this
Hi Matt, Here is a green project I’m trying to grow right here in Dayton — it is called the Hybrid Adapter — or HYBRAD — and could provide an alternative fuel source for any passenger vehicle: http://www.hybrad.com/ I’ll stay in touch with updates. Thanks for your time,BrianBy Lee
May 3, 2008 4:31 AM | Link to this
I just want to tell you how impress I am with the new hospital.