John E. Green Company (JEG) trusted its longtime partner, Johnson Controls, to help them meet the demands of Detroit Medical Center’s (DMC’s) new tower and identify products that could save the contractor installation time. YORK® YMC2 centrifugal magnetic drive chillers paired with the Metasys® building automation system (BAS) with Central Plant Optimization 10 (CPO10) optimized energy efficiency, while using YORK Solution Air Handling Units and SimplexGrinnell’s addressable notification system ensured speedy installation.
From JEG’s perspective, complex projects run better when working with trusted a partner that carries a diverse portfolio of products and technologies. “There’s a real nice synergy when there is one supplier across the different platforms. Having one person at the forefront makes a much smoother process overall,” Chief Operating Officer Rob Martin said.
The new $155-million tower at DMC’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan in the heart of Detroit is a six-story, 248,000-square-foot facility with state-of-the-art systems and technology. Hospital leaders never wavered in their quest to build a comfortable, safe, healing environment that optimized space, improved efficiencies, and reliably delivered leading pediatric care to 90,000 visitors a year. They gathered architects and designers to work with families, patients, and staff and then methodically evaluated needs and workflows—at one point building a cardboard mock-up of six floors of the proposed tower.
Armed with valuable input, leaders immersed themselves in an integrated design process to drive out waste and boost efficiency. DMC formed a team of key partners and contractors, all leaders in their industries, to carry their vision forward.
“There’s a real nice synergy when there is one supplier across
the different platforms. Having one person at the forefront
makes a much smoother process overall.”—Rob Martin, Chief Operating Officer, John E. Green Company
Tackling Challenges Together
JEG and Johnson Controls have a long history of collaboration, which helped ensure success, according to Martin. “Nobody likes surprises,” Martin said. “It helps to work with a company who is familiar to you and provides technologically innovative products and solutions while meeting schedules and deadlines.”
While patients and families would never see the chilled water plant on the top floor of the new tower, the location raised some challenges. High-capacity chillers could produce enough sound to reach lower floors where children were recuperating. Johnson Controls and JEG chose two YORK YMC2 centrifugal magnetic drive chillers. The energy-efficient design could reduce noise by about 50 percent compared with other chillers on the market.
Enhancing Energy Efficiency
Reliability and energy efficient systems drove the discussion around other products and technologies. For example, chilled water plants can offer the greatest opportunity for energy savings—but only if configured and run correctly. The consulting engineer wanted a BAS that could capture that
energy savings throughout the lifecycle of the plant. Johnson Controls and JEG chose the Metasys BAS with CPO10. Instead of controlling a collection of independent components and controls, Metasys and CPO10 integrate and
harmonize the plant’s entire operation through documented best practices,
algorithms, and ASHRAE recommendations. With CPO10, Metasys can squeeze out five to 15 percent more energy savings compared with standard automation.
Addressing Other Concerns
With existing facilities staff stretched thin, to manage the additional space of the new tower, the new BAS needed to be intuitive and offer easy-to-use remote monitoring. The advanced graphics capabilities and new reporting features of Metasys make it easy for facility staff to view information by location, access
trends, and drill down on the cause of alarms.
Another concern was selecting air handling units with enough capacity and performance for the job. Customization drives up cost, so Johnson Controls proposed its YORK Solution Air Handling Unit, with standard features (factory-
mounted controls, humidifiers, and split coils) that meant installation onsite would happen much faster.
The fan array was also unique for a standard line. It included eight fans instead of one for system redundancy. If one fan went down, the hospital could still maintain 96-percent air flow. Redundancy is especially important in hospitals, because downtime is not an option when operating rooms or entire hospital wings are at risk.
To ensure patient safety, DMC needed redundancy and flexible features in a fire safety system, so SimplexGrinnell’s addressable notification system was selected. The system’s flexible wiring design could lower installation costs by 50 percent,
but addressable notification was also a key selling point. Fire notification testing can be upsetting to young patients and disrupt the peaceful, healing environment. The SimplexGrinnell system tests itself quietly in the background. Each device reports its location and status, giving facilities staff confidence that
the system is performing properly. SimplexGrinnelll is the JCI fire sprinkler
product line.
Benefits of Partnership
By the end of 2017, patients and staff will be completely moved in to the new critical care tower. Silently in the background, the products and technologies carefully chosen by key partners will support the extraordinary work of skilled clinicians and staff. Now, DMC’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan stands ready to
embrace the expanding needs of the communities they serve.
For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com.
