(Friday Harbor, WA)— Peace Island Medical Center (PIMC) was officially recognized on Oct 22, 2014 among the short list of ASHRAE Technology First Place Winners for 2015. The award presentation will be conducted at the 2015 ASHRAE Winter Conference in Chicago, IL, during the Plenary Session on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 3:15pm.
ASHRAE Technology Awards recognize outstanding achievement in the design and operation of energy efficient buildings. Performance is proven through one year’s actual, verifiable operating data. Projects are judged based on the following main criteria: Energy Efficiency, Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort, Innovation, Operation and Maintenance, Cost Effectiveness, Environmental Impact. (Quality of Presentation and Judges Prerogative are minor criteria in the judging process.)
CDi Engineers, who merged with Mazzetti in May of this year, completed the HVAC, plumbing and fire protection design. Mark Stavig, Principal at CDi+Mazzetti, was honored but not completely surprised.
“On day one, Mahlum Architects described their vision of a Living Building Challenge project. Deep involvement throughout the entire project from the design team, PeaceHealth staff, Howard S Wright, and the Washington State Dept of Health kept the momentum going, which resulted in a facility that we knew would push the typical norm of a medical center.”
PIMC is a high performance, 40,000 sft Critical Access Hospital and Clinic that includes 10 Inpatient Beds, Emergency, Imaging, Surgery Departments, and an Ambulatory Outpatient Clinic with a Cancer Care Center.
PIMC started with a vision to create a place of healing for an island community of 2,287 inhabitants. Evident in the location, this place would need to cultivate a culture of peace and serenity as a crucial part of the healing process and minimize its impact on the already strapped island infrastructure. However, the nature of the building type presented real challenges. Overcoming these challenges, PIMC is living that vision in Friday Harbor, WA (Friday Harbor is one of the islands, comprising the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound.)
Leslie Jonsson, ASHRAE Region XI Chapter Technology Transfer Committee (CTTC) Regional Vice Chair (RVC) and Associate at CDi+Mazzetti, was removed from judging for this project, being the respective engineering firm. She was later informed of the awe for this project by the other judges.
“I was proud to hear how impressed the judging panel was about this particular project. Impressed almost to the extent of disbelief at the low EUI averaging about 90, natural ventilation and self-balancing mechanical systems.”
Due to the limited resources on the island, the project team chose to “do more with less”. The Design team used the Living Building Challengeas a roadmap and developed sustainable and innovative strategies through simplified systems intended for a single facility manager to operate. It also resulted in smaller systems, with less materials & equipment, an important factor due to primarily boat-only transportation.
Though not judged on this category, Leslie was eager to speak to the great community involvement.
“Design input was gathered from across the service area, including neighboring islands. By incorporating community involvement as a cornerstone of the process, we were able to achieve broad consensus and resilient support for the project… and the momentum continues.”
More information on PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center here.