Ravenna, Ohio, United States

Introduction

University Hospitals Portage Medical Center is a 302-licensed-bed hospital that provides medical and surgical specialty services, comprehensive imaging, and urgent care to residents of Portage County. Portage Medical Center is one of 21 hospitals in the University Hospitals network in northern Ohio and the second-largest employer in the county, with nearly 400 physicians in 40+ medical specialties. Portage Medical Center earned the highest possible quality rating of five stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the US agency that administers Medicare.

Project details

Authorized Dealer Control Concepts Ohio installed a Reliable Controls building automation system at the hospital to integrate a new 40,000 cubic-feet-per-minute air-handling unit with a mixture of new and existing variable air volume units that serve the emergency room, intensive care unit, and state-of-the-art catheterization lab.

Control Concepts Ohio used RC-Toolkit software to configure a network of equipment that includes Reliable Controls controllers as well as a mini split unit, variable frequency drives, and a room pressure monitor. The flexibility of RC-Studio software allowed them to program air-handling and variable air volume units and to send global variables from third-party devices across the network.

Control Concepts Ohio installed two MACH-ProCom controllers to control large mechanical equipment in the facility. With its extensive network routing abilities, highly scalable inputs and outputs, and small size, the MACH-ProCom is a fully programmable BACnet Building Controller that achieves an optimum balance between function and form.

For variable air volume control, Control Concepts Ohio used three RC-FLEXair and nine MACH-ProAir devices, each of which includes an airflow sensor and onboard damper motor, eliminating the need for separate sensors and actuators. With tons of nonvolatile memory, the RC-FLEXair has enough space to handle the most challenging applications and automatically logs all input, output, value, calendar, loop, and schedule objects.

The new air-handling unit replaced 30-year-old equipment that no longer served the hospital’s requirements. With Reliable Controls automation, the new unit provides a more efficient system that suits the current and future needs of the emergency room, intensive care, and catheterization lab and delivers improved occupant comfort, better filtration, UV lighting, and air-quality monitoring.

The facility will see substantial energy savings as a result of the retrofit. Not only does the Reliable Controls system allow building managers to better control how efficiently equipment is used, but also Control Concepts Ohio implemented a custom sequence of operations that runs energy-saving routines in the background to reduce overall energy consumption.

Unit delivery and scheduling and the need for the new catheterization lab to be open for patients were both challenges Control Concepts Ohio handled with confidence and ease. Technicians were able to pivot quickly and efficiently to deliver a building automation solution that’s simple, flexible, sustainable.

Reliable Controls Authorized Dealer
Control Concepts Ohio

Market segment
Health care

Project type
Retrofit

Installation type
HVAC

Total area
1,858 m² (20,000 ft²)

Protocol
BACnet

Installed equipment
9 MACH-ProAir controllers
2 MACH-ProCom controllers
3 RC-FLEXair controllers
RC-Studio software
RC-Toolkit software

Integrated equipment
Samsung Mini Split unit, Danfoss variable frequency drives

Total system objects
200