sensing data will be shared with the mechanical and
lighting systems, allowing more communication between
them. This communication works to adjust the systems to
more closely match the room’s needs.
JK: The constant expansion and improvement of
wireless technology is carrying all the other different
technologies on its back. It’s moving at such a pace that
some people can’t keep up. Wireless guest connectivity
and entertainment account for 60% of the usage at
healthcare facilities. Patient entertainment and education
is huge; it’s what makes them comfortable and informed.
In what areas do healthcare MEP design and healthcare
technology design overlap?
MF: They overlap on the controls side. The technology
systems that are in hospitals are highly specialized to
that environment. But MEP systems are adapted to the
healthcare environment, they weren’t created especially
for healthcare. Integration involves taking the information
that’s already collected by these systems and utilizing it
for the physical components. We want medical facility
systems to be predictive and they become predictive by
accessing all the available information. Collecting and
analyzing all the controls information is the challenge.
JK: On the technology side, we need to get that data
in a usable format so that the plumbing designers and
mechanical and electrical engineers can use it. The
advancement of reporting and analytical profiles allows
us to give them data in any format they want.
MF: Not only that but making the data real-time. If it
takes a person to look at the data, its already too old.
Developing algorithms that can look at something like
temperature, understand a trend and realize that the rate
of temperature change is on an improper trajectory, even
before the temperature gets too high. That’s what we
mean by being predictive, identifying a problem before
its actually outside of the bounds of normal operation.
This sort of intelligence is important because another
trend we’re seeing on the MEP side is that there’s less
people there to operate the systems. Owners want to pay
for systems that do the thinking for them.
We want medical
facility systems to be
predictive and they
become predictive
by accessing
all the available
information.
JK: Modeling allows us to forecast intelligently.
Mechanical systems are the foremost beneficiaries of this.
Modeling takes real-time information to automatically
adjust systems. It can change the temperature in
the cafeteria because its relatively empty to offset
higher energy use somewhere else. These autonomous
adjustments bring down energy costs compared to
buildings with static systems or systems that rely on
humans to make adjustments. These reduced non-
personnel costs save healthcare facility owners real
money. To open Ronald Reagan, it costs $4.5 million
every day. Slicing away at those energy costs with smart
building controls is very important for owners and one of
the reasons that smart controls, modeling and predictive
systems are on the rise in the healthcare market.
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