Built in 1980, the Turner Center in Springfield, Missouri, is a medical center that includes an urgent care center, pediatric and adult outpatient services, a pharmacy, and numerous medical provider offices. With facility additions over the years and the need for improved IAQ, Cox Health approached Shannon McCall, lead engineer at Telios Engineering in Dallas, for help with a redesign. To improve IAQ and save energy, McCall suggested the Governair Series WF air-handling unit with energy recovery and FANWALL TECHNOLOGY®, which uses 100 percent outside air for maximum ventilation. The Governair unit was installed in line with the outside air intake of the existing air handler and uses energy recovery wheels to condition incoming outdoor air, recovering energy from the building exhaust. The energy recovery ventilator (ERV) was selected both to improve the air change rates for the building and to compensate fora low existing chiller tonnage. “Previously, the building was struggling to hold temperature in the summer,” McCall said. “The ERV is supplementing the chillers ,and the building is now holding at a comfortable temperature.” To overcome the additional static pressure caused by adding the ERV system, additional fan capacity was needed. The Governair custom air handler designed for this project uses a total of 18 FANWALL fancells, which are installed in the ERV unit nine-wide and stacked two high. “The FANWALL units’ ease of installation and minimal maintenance requirements also made them a good fit for this application,” said Gary Whittenberg, assistant director of engineering at Cox Health. The total ERV system is housed in Governair’s rugged Series WF cabinet, which features a fully welded, phenolic-coated, tubular steel framing system for maximum flexibility and strength. The assembled unit — which is 33 feet long, 16 feet wide, 12 feet high, and weighs 42,000 pounds — was shipped in two sections and assembled on-site. Springfield Engineering Co., Springfield, Missouri, worked with Aaron Fields of local Governair representative Fields Mechanical Systems Inc. in designing the system and coordinating delivery. “We had just one day to set the unit sections on the rooftop,” Fields said. “Once the unit was set, we waited until the following weekend to tie the unit into the penthouse and bring it online. The facility was operating within a few hours after tying in the duct and electrical.” “Since this unit has been installed, we’ve not had one complaint about odor or any complaints about lack of cooling,” said Gary Whittenberg, assistant director of engineering at Cox Health. “The system recovers enough energy to supplement the existing system as well as provide 100 percent fresh air to the facility.
AHR NEWS 2015-18
Article by Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration NEWS