FEATURE
51
“Air-conditioning has also received attention through
the years with the environment being suited for
microbial growth that can in turn be spread in the
facility. By strategically placing exit and intake points,
cross contamination can be avoided. Also, air handling
systems for different environments should not be in
proximity in terms of exhaust points.”
Vorster says that typical failures in healthcare buildings
can be classified as design or mechanical failure. “The
design failure in turn can be either insufficient capacity
based, such as adequate cooling or heating. In terms
of mechanical failure, the consequences can vary in
terms of severity. Minor leaks can, over time, create
areas suitable for the growth of microbes and could
in turn be detrimental to the air quality for instance.
A major failure of services could close a department
down for an extended time and could as a result affect
a number of allied departments. Ill-conceived design
could also have an effect as maintenance crews could
be required to enter.
This means that something like SARS could still happen
in South Africa, whose standards are in desperate need of
being updated, precisely for reasons such as this.
Most of today’s healthcare systems worldwide suffer from
ageing buildings that are unable to cope with the new
demands and legislation pertaining to resource usage. The
process of wellness that is promoted in healthcare facilities
is neither only a result of the medical staff and procedures,
nor is it by the nature of the design of the facility, but
intrinsically it is reliant on the environment that the MEP
(mechanical, electrical and plumbing) design facilitates in the
modern healthcare facility.
“The single-most challenging aspect for the plumber
is gaining access to the services. Hospitals are by their
very nature highly sanitised and most of the internal
areas are particularly sensitive in terms of noise
vibration or any other aspect like chemical odours
emanating from any maintenance.”
Adriaan Vorster, Architecture Business Line Director:
Buildings & Places, Africa; Healthcare Sector Lead, Africa
and Middle East at AECOM, says in terms of infection control:
“The modern health system was created to effectively fight
and cure disease, infections and contagious viruses in
addition to the various surgical procedures undertaken on
a regular basis. It is critical to create the environment to
effectively drive this agenda.
Vollie Brink, a veteran design
engineer of 65 years, and
regular contributor to
Plumbing Africa.
Today that shouldn’t happen. For instance, Harscan
Distributors has a waterless waste valve that forms a trap
and never dries out. Harscan owner Malcolm Harris says,
“We sell these into hospitals and laboratories because it
keeps the odours out even in tough windy conditions which
otherwise might create a condition that compromises
the trap. It’s recognised all over the world, but sadly the
standards in South Africa have not been updated.”
operating theatres should not have services in the ceiling
void as good practice. In corridors, valves and other
service points should be grouped in corridors to lessen
the impact when servicing is required.
A WHO investigation into the outbreak later pinned the blame
on inadequate plumbing at the hotel. This demonstrates how
important plumbing is to health, and especially hospitals.
Adriaan Vorster, Architecture
Business Line Director:
Buildings & Places, Africa;
Healthcare Sector Lead, Africa
and Middle East at AECOM.
The plumbing design
Vollie Brink, a veteran design engineer of 65 years,
says that the cost of health institutions is high and
therefore the cost of the design of a hospital and
its services require cost-effective solutions. “Some
“It is therefore critical to take the above-mentioned into
account when designing not only the fabric of the building
to fight disease, but to include the MEP design in these
considerations.
“In terms of infection control it is critical to design the
MEP system to optimise air changes in operating rooms,
safely increase air temperatures in operation theatres, and
co-locating certain critical functions like isolation rooms,
operating theatres and hospital wards in a coherent manner.
By getting the layout of the facilities right, the design of
the MEP system will be enhanced, and an initial level of
optimisation will be achieved in terms of cost efficiency and
energy consumption,” says Vorster.
Performance is critical: “Close inspection at every stage
of the installation is required, from the design through to
installation. The installations can then be fine-tuned in the
latter stages of commissioning. Key aspects like inspection
hatches need careful consideration. Certain areas like
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11
“One of the key aspects of a hospital is the fact that
most of the facilities are operational 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. If any system fails, it can have a
disastrous effect on the operation of the facility and also
directly may affect the well-being of patients. Facilities
where isolation rooms or other enhanced environments
exist need careful consideration and fail-safe systems to
avoid environmental breakdown. Systems also need to
be designed to give extended service life with acceptable
service and maintenance windows that match the
operation of the facility.”
The medical profession aims to provide first-rate hospitality services – but can it rely on its
invisible plumbing?
www.plumbingafrica.co.za