Dewberry: High Point Regional Health infrastructure improvements

Automation, controls; electrical, power; HVAC, mechanical; plumbing, piping; facility assessments.

By Dewberry August 11, 2016

Engineering firm: Dewberry

2016 MEP Giants rank: 32

Project: High Point Regional Health infrastructure improvements

Location: High Point, N.C.

Building type: Hospital/health care facility

Project type: System overhaul (e.g., mechanical system upgrade, fire protection system overhaul, etc.)

Engineering services: Automation, controls; electrical, power; HVAC, mechanical; plumbing, piping; facility assessments

Project timeline: September 2011 to May 2015

MEP/FP budget: $24.5 million

Challenges

Planned renovations and construction at High Point Regional Health over the next several years could not have been possible without a complete overhaul of the hospital’s power and HVAC systems. The upgrades required constructing a building to house the emergency generators and electrical switchgear, along with a full renovation of the existing chiller plant.

Solutions

  1. A trusted mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering partner of High Point Regional Health since 2001, we completed a comprehensive facility assessment of the 748,196-sq-ft, 384-bed medical and surgical hospital, 100,150-sq-ft cancer center, and 137,640-sq-ft cardiac pavilion in 2007. The assessment identified necessary upgrades to chilled water, emergency power generation, and power distribution components, which led directly to High Point Regional Health’s 2-year, phased infrastructure improvement plan.
  2. We designed the MEP systems associated with three new 2,500-kVA emergency generators; a consolidated electrical service system with 12.5-kV medium-voltage distribution; three new 1,500-ton high-efficiency chillers and coolers; an upgraded variable primary chilled-water system; various steam and chilled-water distribution upgrades and expansions; and several new workshops, offices, and storage facilities. Our MEP professionals also completed preliminary conceptual designs with cost estimates and budget plans.
  3. The three new 2,500-kVA emergency generators produce up to 7.5 million VA in the event of normal electrical supply failure. The emergency generator control and distribution system allows the main hospital, emergency department, and cardiac pavilion to stay fully operational when normal power is interrupted. We consolidated the campus’ complex electrical service into a 12.5-kV distribution system fed by dual utility connections. The new electrical service is designed for future expansion and is protected by 480 V automatic transfer switches. A single individual can monitor the electrical network from a control room equipped with a computerized supervised control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and touchscreen monitor. The infrastructure improvement included three new 1,500-ton high-efficiency chillers and coolers with 4,500 tons of total capacity. We converted the existing primary/secondary/tertiary chilled-water pump system to a variable primary system. The infrastructure-improvement project stemmed from our campuswide facilities assessment, which evaluated conditions, capacity, code compliance, and remaining lifespan of various MEP systems. All infrastructure improvements were completed in phases across 2 years, minimizing interruptions to regular hospital operations.