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TLC Engineering for Architecture Inc.: Florida Hospital for Women

Automation, controls; electrical, power; HVAC, mechanical; lighting; energy, sustainability; plumbing, piping; audio/visual

By TLC Engineering for Architecture Inc. August 11, 2016

Engineering firm: TLC Engineering for Architecture Inc.

2016 MEP Giants rank: 33

Project: Florida Hospital for Women

Location: Orlando, Fla.

Building type: Hospital/health care facility

Project type: New construction

Engineering services: Automation, controls; electrical, power; HVAC, mechanical; lighting; energy, sustainability; plumbing, piping; audio/visual

Project timeline: December 2011 to January 2016

MEP/FP budget: $48 million

Challenges

  1. The Florida Hospital for Women is one of three new health care facilities included in Florida Hospital’s comprehensive plan, the hospital’s second-largest capital investment in its 100-year history. The hospital integrates cutting-edge technology with a full spectrum of nationally recognized women’s health services to extend world-class health care to women at every stage of life.
  2. One of the engineering challenges TLC encountered involved removing an existing grease trap located within the footprint of the intended site and providing four new ones outside the footprint of the new building. The new grease traps are at a higher elevation than the existing grease lines, which required lifting the grease to the higher elevation.

Solutions

TLC engineers responded to the challenge by designing a grease pump room with a holding tank at the lower elevation. The tank includes infrared level alarms that activate the compressed air pump and lift the grease to a higher elevation, allowing for natural gravity slope to move the grease to the new grease traps. The grease pump room is 100% exhausted with redundant exhaust fans and ultraviolet (UV) GI air scrubbers. The room is also equipped with a pressure monitor that eliminates odor in the facility by indicating negative airflow.