Optimization in Healthcare Facilities

The Clifton Center for Breakthrough Medicine is the newest medical facility at the University of Pennsylvania Health Systems in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by Foster + Partners, the center has been recognized with multiple awards for architecture, engineering and sustainable design. The $1.6 billion Clifton Center is a state-of-the-art facility, designed and built to be a "blueprint for the hospital of the future" focusing on patient experience, comfort, and cutting-edge medical care. Construction of the building was a multi-year collaborative project that concluded in October of 2021.

Foster + Partners has published a list of interesting facts, including the following:

• The Clifton Center is the largest certified project in the United States to achieve a Gold LEED Healthcare rating.
• To accelerate construction much of the building, including patient rooms, bathrooms and mechanical systems, was prefabricated off-site
• The effort to make the building and the construction process sustainable was extended to the recycling of materials collected after the demolition of Penn Tower, which previously stood on the site. Materials recovered and reused included 291 tons of scrap steel and 17,000 tons of concrete.
• The patient care floors were designed with a flexible planning system to respond to changing needs and patient demands. Adaptable rooms allow patients to stay in the same place while services move to them.

Post construction, with direction from hospital administration, one of the remaining challenges was to improve HVAC performance and efficiency. An important requirement was the optimization of a 6,250-ton centralized chilled water plant performance. The Clifton Center project team chose Schneider Electric and Armstrong Fluid Technology as control solution partners. Working with the project team, an integrated solution consisting of Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Building Management platform and Armstrong's OTI-VISOR central plant optimization solution was installed.

EcoStruxure Building Management solution is an integrated platform for monitoring, control, and management of energy, lighting, fire safety, security, and HVAC. It was designed to respond to demands for security, scalability, and efficiency. With an open and secure software integration framework, EcoStruxure allows collaboration across third-party systems to create truly innovative solutions

OPTI-VISOR solution is an ultra-efficient chiller plant control module that interfaces seamlessly with the EcoStruxure BMS to maximize overall plant efficiency – without replacing or reconfiguring existing componentry. By analyzing the data supplied by the Building Automation system, OPTI-VISOR provides operational instructions to the BAS to optimize the overall plant efficiency using leading-edge control algorithms.

The OPTI-VISOR instructions harmonize the interplay between building sub-systems and existing HVAC equipment, including Chillers, Chilled Water Pumps, Condenser Water Pumps, Cooling Towers, external environmental conditions, and Building cooling load requirements.

Where EcoStruxure provides connectivity and security, Armstrong's OPTI-visor focusses exclusively on the efficiency and performance of the HVAC system. Linking the two solutions, in a way that drew on the strengths of each, was the crucial decision that pushed HVAC system efficiencies beyond the expectations of anyone involved.

Optimization results post commissioning:

• Average Plant Efficiency 0.5 kW/ton
• 4-Year Energy Savings 6317014 kWh
• 4-Year Cost Savings $506,498

Schneider Electric, Armstrong Fluid Technology and Chesapeake Systems, the local Armstrong representative, remain committed to collaborating with the Clifton Center staff. Monthly and quarterly plant performance reviews are conducted on an ongoing basis to ensure the overall operation of the system, and to discuss any plant performance suggestions.