Life Cycle Cost Approach to HVAC Systems
Clay Seckman, PE, discusses Life Cycle Cost Approaches to HVAC Systems in the latest issue of the Turner Healthcare Monitor newsletter.
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Archive for 2013
Construction Begun On Improvements to Key Memphis Interchange
Article in Civil Engineering’s December issue about the new I-40/I-240 Interchange Improvement Project taking place on the eastern edge of Memphis, Tennessee. The project is the largest single contracted ever issued by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
SAMMC wins AIA 2013 Healthcare Design Awards
The San Antonio Military Medical Center, an addition to Brooke Army Medical Center, was recently named a recipient of the 2013 AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards in Category B- Built, more than $25 Million.
First Look: Golisano Children’s Hospital Of Southwest Florida
The new Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida expands Lee Memorial Health System’s pediatric care. The new building will be located on the existing HealthPark Medical Center Campus in Fort Myers, Fla., and will follow these guiding principles: Embody a regional brand that provides Tier 1 services and is easily recognizable to the region and […]
Returning To Earth
Geothermal system at Methodist Olive Brand Hospital offers case study for HVAC selection.
Owensboro Health Regional Hospital: Best Project of 2013
NASHVILLE, TN – November 25, 2013 – Smith Seckman Reid, Inc (SSR), a Nashville based engineering design and facilities consulting firm is excited to announce that Owensboro Health Regional Hospital has been awarded top honors in the Health Care category in ENR Midwest’s Best Projects of 2013 competition. Owensboro Health opened their new replacement facility […]
Back To Life At Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is in the business of improving the quality of life for patients with disabilities and their families, through its patient care, teaching, and research programs. For 42 years, the organization, which is part of the not-for-profitPartners HealthCare (Boston), operated a facility on Nashua Street in Boston. But its small double-occupancy rooms, inaccessible bathrooms, and […]
Williamson Medical Center children’s hospital groundbreaking
Executives placed ceremonial shovels in the ground at the site of the front door of the hospital, which will officially be named Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Vanderbilt at Williamson Medical Center. News Channel 5, November 19, 2013.
Best Health Care Project: Owensboro Health Regional Hospital
To coordinate the myriad components of Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, a facility with 477 beds, 16 operating room suites and an expanded neonatal intensive-care unit, project team members made extensive use of building information modeling, lean construction principals and integrated project delivery throughout all phases of design and construction. Among other benefits, IPD promoted early […]
Returning to Earth
Geothermal system at Methodist Olive Branch Hospital offers case study for HVAC selection. Medical Construction & Design, November/December 2013.
Compliance News Volume XIII, Issue V
The Joint Commission (TJC) discussed the use of a sample hazardous material and waste management environment of care (EOC) tracer in its March 2013 issue of EC News. The article provided specific examples for conducting the tracer to explore issues related to orientation and training, physical environment, and quality improvement priority focus areas. EC News […]
Consolidating Care
The University of Tennessee combines its disparate pharmacy buildings into a new facility at the Memphis Medical Center.
COAA Announces Winners of 2013 Project Leadership Awards
Construction Owners Association of America (COAA) announced the winners of the 2013 Project Leadership Awards during the COAA Fall Owners Leadership Conference Awards Luncheon, October 31, 2013. The Gold Award was awarded to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare for the Methodist Olive Branch project. October 2013.
Raising The Bar At Owensboro Health Regional Hospital
Limited by the inefficiencies of its existing facility, Owensboro Health Regional Hospital in Owensboro, Ky., came to a conclusion about its future: Delivering a higher quality of care meant starting over and rebuilding. On June 1, Owensboro Health, along with its project team of HGA Architects and Engineers (Milwaukee); KLMK Group Inc. (Richmond, Va. ); Smith Seckman Reid Inc. (SSR) (Nashville); and Turner Construction (Nashville), unveiled […]
Announcing the Top 40 Under 40 class of 2013
Forty successful business and community leaders have been selected as the 2013 honorees of Memphis Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 Awards.
Energy Recovery Is Becoming Common Way To Save On HVAC Costs
Energy recovery is an option to save on HVAC costs for organizations using a direct exchange system that’s increasingly being written into building codes and ASHRAE standards. Like VRF, there are two basic types: airside and waterside. According to Ron Holdaway, an engineer at Smith Seckman Reid, airside energy recovery is the process of using […]
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
As I look at our profession, I see a void in leadership. I am not referring to your boss, executives, or directors. There are great leaders within all of our various organizations. But when I look out across the landscape of our state, engineers in leadership positions are absent. We have long advocated that being […]
Compliance News Volume XIII, Issue IV
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a categorical Life Safety Code waiver permitting new and existing ventilation systems supplying hospital and critical access hospital (CAH) anesthetizing locations to operate with a relative humidity (RH) of ≥20%, instead of ≥35%. CMS is also recommending that RH not exceed 60% in these locations. CMS […]
Long-awaited Wolf River Boulevard link opens next week
The last link of Wolf River Boulevard will open next week, connecting Collierville to the Interstate 240 interchange at Walnut Grove.
Work begins on Richellen Park
When folks gather Tuesday, July 30, for groundbreaking ceremonies at Richellen Park, it will signal the beginning of the last major county park project following a series of upgrades at existing parks that date back to 2008. Developing the 52-acre park located on Highway 149 between the Cumberland Heights and Palmyra areas will by far […]
Compliance News Volume XIII, Issue III
In its Joint Commission Online article, dated June 26, 2013,(www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/23/jconline_June_26_13.pdf) The Joint Commission announced a new 2014 National Patient Safety Goal NPSG .06.01.01 on clinical alarm safety for both hospitals and critical access hospitals. The July 2013 issue of Joint Commission Perspectives discusses the new NPSG in detail. The NPSG requirements include 4 elements of […]
Buildings Shall Be Capable Of…
Cx Monitor Newsletter, Issue 5.2 OWNERS OFTEN ASK that engineers specify what a “building automation system shall be capable of” in terms of operations or performance. But just because a building’s automation system is capable of doing something, doesn’t necessarily ensure that a particular operation will actually be properly utilized (if utilized at all) once […]
SSR Receives ACECTN Honors Award for Work on Alcoa’s Overlook Reservoirs
NASHVILLE, TN – May 28, 2013 – Eric Sheffer, LEED AP BD+C, a Principal at Smith Seckman Reid, Inc (SSR), has been appointed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Middle Tennessee Chapter Board. Sheffer, who oversees SSR’s Sustainability Consulting team, manages LEED certified projects and LEED feasibility studies in the LEED for New Construction, LEED […]
Where Technology And Design Meet In Future Care Delivery
When I recently asked a panel of healthcare technology gurus what their ideal environment of care looks like, it wasn’t a “homelike” space that they described. Rather, it was very literally “home.” I had the pleasure of moderating the panel “Design Considerations for Technological Innovation in Healthcare Delivery,” a DuPont event held in conjunction with Healthcare Design at the DuPont […]
Contemporary and Alternative Existing-Building Commissioning
The Great Recession, as the last five-plus years have come to be known, has been tough on building owners and operations-and-maintenance (O&M) staffs. As they face mounting pressure to maximize net operating income, they increasingly are turning to existing-building commissioning (EBCx) to keep maintenance and utility costs down. This article will define contemporary EBCx, describe the […]
Tupelo Council delays first step toward railroad ‘quiet zone’
Northeast Mississippi News Daily Journal article about Tupelo’s City Council delaying the vote to explore implementing “quiet zones” along railroad tracks in the city. If passed, SSR would complete necessary first steps of engineering and other technical work required for a quiet zone application. TUPELO – Wanting more time to ask questions about an effort […]
Tupelo Council to vote on railroad ‘quiet zone’ study
TUPELO – Loud train whistles throughout Tupelo could turn into memories, starting with a City Council vote today to explore “quiet zones.”City Council members will likely vote to authorize work on a $138,000 “analysis and diagnostics” study that could lead to quiet zones along railroad tracks in the city.The study would be a necessary first […]
Design project reimagines hospital rooms
Two Nashville companies are at the heart of a national effort to design a hospital room that will transform patient care. Dubbed “Patient Room 2020,” the latest version of the project is set to be unveiled later this month at the DuPont Corian Design Studio in New York City. Designed in collaboration by architects, engineers […]
Heart of Texas
The Louis & Peaches Owen Heart Hospital on the Trinity Mother Frances campus in Tyler, Texas is the cover story for the May/June issue of Medical Construction and Design. SSR provided MEP engineering services to the new, 154,000 SF facility.
Compliance News Volume XIII, Issue III
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a categorical Life Safety Code waiver permitting new and existing ventilation systems supplying hospital and critical access hospital (CAH) anesthetizing locations to operate with a relative humidity (RH) of ≥20%, instead of ≥35%. CMS is also recommending that RH not exceed 60% in these locations. CMS […]
2013 Top 40 Electrical Design Firms
SSR ranked on of nation’s top electrical engineering firms by Electrical Construction & Maintenance. The nation’s top U.S. electrical design firms weathered the storm during the economic slowdown with slim margins, fierce competition, and drastically reduced opportunities. By diversifying their services and expanding into new areas, however, the companies are now reporting a brighter outlook […]
Children’s Mercy see healthy growth in projects
Children’s Mercy Hospital was recently singled out for Special Judges’ Recognition in the Kansas City Business Journal’s Capstone Awards. The Capstone Awards program honors outstanding real estate and development projects — and the companies, organizations and individuals behind them. SSR provided engineering services for Hall Tower on the Children’s Mercy campus.
Memphis link to the ‘Mighty Mississippi’
Located in Memphis, Tenn.,on the Mississippi River, the new Beale Street Landing consists of a public park, passenger boat docking facility, and terminal building. A modern, world-class docking facility was needed to better accommodate passenger boat traffic up and down America’s most used interior waterway. A secondary goal of the design was to create a […]
Mighty Mississippi
Located in Memphis, Tenn., on the Mississippi River, the new Beale Street Landing consists of a public park, passenger boat docking facility, and terminal building. A modern, world-class docking facility was needed to better accommodate passenger boat traffic up and down America’s most used interior waterway. A secondary goal of the design was to create a […]
Integrated Project Delivery at Owensboro Medical Health System
Integrated Project Delivery at Owensboro Medical Health System
Clinical Coaching for Healthcare App and Device Developers
The convergence of technology and the healthcare industry is proving to be a valuable and exciting partnership. The effect of technological innovation on disease management has been changing patients’ lives … providing greater quantity and quality of life. Being able to monitor their own blood pressure, glucose, calories, air quality for asthma, and many other […]
Chiller up: Technology advances drive major efficiency gains for hospitals
Chillers don’t seem to get the respect they deserve when it comes to their abilities to help drive greater efficiency and reduce energy consumption. With some recent tweaks to these systems, however, many engineers and plant operations leaders are taking a fresh look at how to harness their potential. The latest chiller technology features variable-speed […]
Compliance News Volume XIII, Issue I
The Joint Commission (TJC) discussed the use of a sample hazardous material and waste management environment of care (EOC) tracer in its March 2013 issue of EC News. The article provided specific examples for conducting the tracer to explore issues related to orientation and training, physical environment, and quality improvement priority focus areas. EC News […]
Integrated Project Delivery at Owensboro Medical Health System
The Owensboro Medical Health System (OMHS) in Owensboro, Ky., USA, is building a replacement facility consisting of a nine-story, 780,000 square foot hospital and a threestory diagnostic and treatment building on a 160-acre site. Scheduled for completion in 2013, the project has utilized the integrated project delivery (IPD) method. While IPD can be benefi cial […]
LEED Improving on Bridging the Design to Operations Gap
The LEED program in general has become more about existing buildings than new construction as evidenced by the certified square footage of existing buildings recently surpassing certified square footage of new construction projects. The enhanced commissioning (Cx) and measurement and verification (M&V) credits are examples of good opportunities that tie design and construction to operations […]
Designing for Health Care Technology
In response to smaller reimbursements, greater operational costs and more demanding record-keeping requirements, the delivery of health care is becoming increasingly tied to technology. Because technology is now setting the pace in a large number of new construction and renovation projects, facility owners are finding themselves having conversations with architects and designers about technology much […]
St. Mary’s Medical Center shines as a federal Energy Star
St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs, Mo., is now the only hospital in the Kansas City area to receive an energy efficient certification from the federal government. A release says the Environmental Protection Agency gave St. Mary’s its Energy Star certification, which puts the hospital in the top 25 percent of similar facilities for its nationwide energy efficiency […]
Assessing alternatives to alleviate suburban flooding
The town of Collierville, Tenn., recently began construction on a regional detention basin designed to reduce flooding. Collierville is a suburb of the Memphis metropolitan area and has a population of approximately 44,000 residents. The town has experienced several major storm events in the last few years, and several homes within the Lateral J basin […]
Water conscious: Plumbing fixtures that promote safety and efficiency
Vendors are paying special attention to water containment to prevent the spread of bacteria. A number of vendors offer hand-washing sinks for hospital staff — and the public — with features to keep the water contained. And they have good reason to make the effort. Jeremy Cressman, vice president, commercial trade, American Standard Brands, Piscataway, […]
Building for the Cure
Completed just more than a year ago, the new SECU Cancer Center at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, was awarded LEED Gold certification in April 2012, making it the third Gold-certified cancer center in the United States and the largest certified facility of its kind in the state. Construction on the $38 million, 120,000-square-foot center was […]
Geothermal Systems for Commercial Facilities
When I started my career 17 years ago, only a few geothermal-unit configurations were available, and those met most industry needs. With the inception of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green-building rating program and stricter ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation for […]
What Can We Expect from 2013?
January is a time of reflection for most – a time to ask what was great about the previous year (and maybe what was not so much). Many also ask themselves, “What will I do to effect positive change in the coming year?” When we look back on the last several years in the green […]
Bridge The Gap From Construction To Efficient Operations
Between the end of a facility’s construction and the beginning of its operations, there’s a substantial transition period where most, if not all, of the professionals who designed, installed and verified the initial conditions of the building cease to be involved. A new team of people begins to run the building, taking on the phase […]
Tie Design and Construction Teams to Building Performance
Most buildings that will be in existence in 2030 are already here today. So an average 22 percent savings across around 75 billion square feet in the United States ends up being a lot of cost, energy and emissions avoidance. No doubt the biggest opportunity is in existing buildings. But what about the new buildings […]