Engineering firm: Stanley Consultants
2014 MEP Giants rank: 25
Project: Operating Rooms and Cancer Research Lab Air Handling Unit Replacements
Address: Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Building type: Educational facility
Project type: System overhaul (e.g., mechanical system upgrade, fire protection system overhaul, etc.)
Engineering services: Electrical/power and HVAC/mechanical
Project timeline: 10/21/2013 to 1/31/2014
MEP/FP budget: $50,000

Challenges

Stanley Consultants was selected to provide schematic design for an air handling unit (AHU) replacement for four operating rooms, and design and construction site observation services for replacement of an existing AHU with a new 30,000 cfm unit to serve a cancer research laboratory at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas. The Operating Rooms project was programmed based on individual AHUs or a combined AHU for all four rooms; however, each room required individual control to maintain precise temperature and cleanliness standards. The AHU(s) will be located on an interstitial level between the first and second floors, requiring special coordination with vendors to accommodate site constraints.

Solutions

Due to large exhaust volumes of the Research Laboratory project, the new laboratory room AHU required a larger-than-usual makeup air volume. The new air handling unit was approximately twice the volume capacity of the existing unit. The project design was complicated by space limitations on the mezzanine. The new AHU was required to fit into space occupied by the existing AHU with structural beams encroaching the area, requiring special coordination with AHU manufacturers. Installation had to be staged during concurrent renovations of the laboratory space under tight time constraints.

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