Cancer is a cruel opportunist, always taking away. Though lately, modern health care has won more battles against the disease than it’s lost. And in Missoula, Montana, one facility is a fine example of how patients with the disease receive comfort with treatment. It’s smart, deep-down comfort and energy savings from Mother Nature herself Read more
2015 Article
Cancer is a cruel opportunist, always taking away. Though lately, modern health care has won more battles against the disease than it’s lost. And in Missoula, Montana, one facility is a fine example of how patients with the disease receive comfort with treatment. It’s smart, deep-down comfort and energy savings from Mother Nature herself.
The new Community Cancer Care facility at the Community Medical Center benefits from a system that gives new meaning to comfortable, convenient healthcare.
“From the outset, the main design criterion of this project was patient comfort,” said Dennis Greeno, partner at OZ Architects, the firm that designed the facility. “From the floor plan that minimizes patient travel inside, to the heating and cooling system at work behind the scenes, the goal to provide comfort for patients was woven into every aspect of the building.” Input from staff and patients weighed heavily into the building’s design.
The 30,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility, also referred to as the Oncology Center, rests a mere 40 feet above the Missoula Aquifer. The massive underground aquifer is all that remains of prehistoric glacial Lake Missoula, which at one point held as much as 600 cubic miles of water – roughly half the volume of Lake Michigan.
According to the University of Montana, the aquifer flows at three to four feet per day; a rapid pace compared to most aquifers which move that distance over the span of a year. In Missoula, the water is consistently around 50°F. It’s the ideal resource for groundwater cooling applications.
To make good use of the aquifer, the Oncology Center uses a “pump-and-dump”, groundwater cooling system to tap the aquifer. Water is drawn from the ground, pumped through a large plate-and-frame heat exchanger, and injected back into the aquifer.
“The Montana DNRC (Department of Natural Resources and Conservation) handles well permitting here,” said Adam Perine, Sr. Hydrologist with NewFields, a national environmental consulting firm. “If water use is non-consumptive, and under 350 GPM, it’s a pretty simple process to acquire the correct permit.” Perine designed the three wells that serve the facility. Although the system only calls for 300 GPM, the wells have been tested at 500 GPM.
“It’s the most holistic approach to geothermal cooling,” said Jared Swartz, office manager for Associated Construction Engineering Inc. (A.C.E.), the company that designed the mechanical, electrical and fire suppression systems at the Oncology Center. “No compressor, no refrigerant; just a pump and a stainless steel heat exchanger to handle the building’s 1M BTUH cooling load.”
Tapping the aquifer
“The pump-and-dump cooling system isn’t that unusual here in Missoula,” said Cory Hanninen, project manager at 4G Plumbing and Heating Inc. “The system is designed to bring in groundwater at about 53 – 55°F, and return it to the ground at roughly 65°F. The aquifer is so huge that every building in Missoula could use it for cooling and it wouldn’t make a noticeable effect on the source temperature.”
The cooling system that A.C.E. designed stems from redundant, 10-inch bore extraction wells, each 130-feet deep. Each supply well has a 20-HP submersible pump. Groundwater moves through the 350-GPM plate-and-frame heat exchanger, and is then returned to the aquifer via an injection well. On the building side of the big heat exchanger, redundant 15 HP, VFD-powered Taco FI3011frame-mounted, end-suction pumps circulate a glycol-based solution to rooftop air handling units that supply ducted AC.
“We’ve completed roughly 25 buildings in Missoula that tap the aquifer for cooling,” said Swartz. “It’s more prevalent here than anywhere in the state, but they’re starting to follow suite elsewhere along the western side of Montana, where the water table aquifers are large and easily accessible. Last year, we designed a similar system for a large hospital in Kalispell.”
The new Kalispell Regional Medical Center Surgical Services Addition uses two, 1,200 GPM wells to feed a similar but more complicated ground-source cooling system. The water is used to provide direct cooling similar to Community Medical Center. In addition to the direct cooling, two more heat exchangers are piped in series to provide condenser water cooling for two 350 ton water cooled chillers. The return water – at approximately 65°F – is then used to cool a 240 ton IT load prior to be injected back into the aquifer
A.C.E. and 4G work together routinely. Both Montana-based firms are accustomed to the design factors seen in the intermountain west; long, cold winters with high snowfall and short, hot summers with very low humidity.
“We’ve concentrated on medical facility work and have been very fortunate to work on many facilities throughout the Northwest. On average, we complete $250 million in construction each year, with medical facilities accounting for more than half of that,” said Swartz. They’re a diverse firm with 30 employees in five different locations; Missoula, Belgrade and Billings, MT; Minot, ND; and Sheridan, WY.
Similarly, 4G’s focus is commercial and industrial work, also with specialization in hospital work. The mechanical firm’s 45 employees have worked on many medical facilities throughout the Northwest.
Warmth, healing
While the groundwater system at the Oncology Center is a unique way of cooling a building, the heating side of the system includes its own uncommon elements. There are some interesting and underutilized approaches to providing patient comfort.
“There’s not one pleasant thing about receiving chemotherapy treatments,” said Swartz. “So a design criterion for the heating system was to make the physical atmosphere as comfortable as possible for patients that will already be uneasy and distressed. The chemotherapy infusion rooms have in-wall radiant panels that provide the first stage heat.”
Two 1.5M BTU, condensing Aerco Benchmark boilers are set up in lead-lag fashion. A 300 MBH, Taco brazed-plate heat exchanger pulls heat from the building’s 180°F, six-inch primary heating loop to supply 120°F water to the radiant panels. The 16 small rooms are split into four zones.
The low-temp branch stemming from the small heat exchanger also heats 2,400 square-feet of sidewalk outside the main doors. Before the building approach was poured, 4G installed three-quarter-inch Watts Radiant PEX+. The concrete is kept dry throughout Montana’s October through April snow season; adding further to patient comfort, safety and convenience.
For common areas, offices, and supplemental heat to infusion rooms, high-temp water is pumped to the rooftop air handler and multiple VAV Boxes throughout the building. The big primary loop uses a 7.5 HP, VFD-powered Taco base-mounted pump.
“We like to use Taco and Watts Radiant products because of the local support we get from Vemco Sales,” said Hanninen. “Beyond that, it’s good to know we have the performance we need and manufacturers willing to stand behind their products.”
The plumbing for the Oncology Center was completed by 4G as well. DHW is supplied by a 100-gallon gas-fired water heater so that the boilers don’t need to run through the summer.
Challenges
The groundwater cooling components came together smoothly, and the radiant portions of the project were no challenge for the 4G crews.
“But we were up against a fast-track, nine-month timeline,” said Hanninen. “Between drilling, plumbing, heating, cooling and working around other subcontractors, we had our hands full for most of 2013.” Construction for the first phase of the project started late in 2012, and wrapped up this past August. Phase two, which will offer radiation oncology services, is slated for spring completion.
Western Montana doesn’t see seismic activity like California, but Big Sky Country isn’t inactive. At the Oncology Center, seismic restraints were used for potable water lines, and the pumps and boilers were anchored to the concrete slab. On the roof, the large air handler rests on a seismic-compliant Vibro-Curb unit with integral spring vibration isolation.
The big mechanical room provided ample space for the main system components, but in-ceiling space was at a premium. Ductwork left minimal room for hydronic piping, electric, fire suppression and domestic hot water lines.
Three’s company
Montana is the fourth largest state by land mass, but it’s 44th in total population. A population density of 6.8 inhabitants per square mile simply means dealing with the same folks more often. Rep, installer, and engineer relationships are no exception.
“4G works frequently with A.C.E, and it definitely benefits both companies,” said Hanninen. “But our rep relationships are just as important. In Montana, we’re farther down the supply chain for a lot of things. Nothing is right around the corner, so Jared and I both lean on Dennis Nisbet, at Vemco Sales, a little harder than a contractor in New York might have to.”
“We do our best to be a resource to both firms,” said Nesbit, who is outside sales for the 35 year-old Northwestern manufacturer’s representative firm. “We get involved in as many projects across the state as we can. A.C.E. usually designs the systems and sizes boilers, pumps, etc. I help them select the appropriate equipment for the application. As you can see at the Oncology Center, we often get into some unique applications.”
Nisbet worked closely with Swartz as he did most of the front-end engineering work at the Oncology project. “I think our biggest challenge was staying under budget and ahead of the 12-month design/construction timeframe,” said Swartz. “Dennis definitely helped with both, as he does on all our projects.”
Affordable healthcare
The fast-flowing aquifer, which is constantly recharged by the Clark Fork River, is a boon to the Missoula community. When coupled with engineering and mechanical aptitude – it indirectly makes healthcare more affordable for those nearby.
“The hospital received a $43,000 rebate from the local utility for installing the groundwater cooling system,” said Swartz. “But we’ve calculated that the system also provides an energy savings of around 150,000 kWh per year when compared to a traditional chiller system – meaning an additional benefit of $11,000 or so per year.
“Before this building was complete, we enjoyed very high satisfaction with our cancer treatment services, but we wanted a facility that could offer even more,” said Devin Huntley, VP of operations at Missoula Community Medical Center.
“With the new facility, we set out to provide the best atmosphere and service possible,” said Huntley. “Patients and family members now tell us every day how much they love it. From an administrations perspective, I can honestly say that this is the first project I’ve worked on in a long time that far exceeded my expectations.”
The building is positioned to take advantage of the mountain views and the soon-to-come healing garden. Few people who enter the facility know about the natural resource that lies beneath their feet, helping to make the building a reality.
By Jim Hinshaw I just heard an excellent sermon on story telling and how stories can help sell our cause, products, or even point of view. It dealt with passages in the Bible about Nehemiah and how he sold the King on letting him go help rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, which had been destroyed Read more
By Jim Hinshaw
I just heard an excellent sermon on story telling and how stories can help sell our cause, products, or even point of view. It dealt with passages in the Bible about Nehemiah and how he sold the King on letting him go help rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by battles. He not only got the King to let him go for several weeks, he asked for and received letters to get him through hostile territory safely, and a letter requesting lumber for the rebuild. So how does this apply today and our industry?
Telling a story is the best way to present your case or influence your customers to consider key variables in making a good sound decision about their circumstance. But not every story is effective and beneficial to the listener. Consider the movies and the innumerous books available that people read. They all tell a story and the audience anticipates every movie frame and every page of the book. But not all movies are good and all books do not become the number one best seller. Some movies and books simply do a better job of telling the story than others. They are more convincing, compelling, and capture the audience’s attention. Therefore, it takes thought, practice, and several key elements to consider. Being unskilled in this, it’s not recommended to simply wing a story, but detail it out to master the art of telling impactful stories based on various customer circumstances.
Consider the effectiveness when you’re with a customer discussing an issue they are having with their water heater. Or perhaps their hydronics system or some other product used in a hi-rise building. With experience, most of you have had other customers with similar issues and circumstances in the past. You can help lead that customer along to an effective decision they can have confidence in based on a compelling story you can tell them about a similar circumstance and the outcome of that circumstance, whether good or bad. You can boldly lead them to conclusions about a particular product and service based on the effectiveness and truthfulness of that story. But it’s only effective if told correctly and with relevance to their situation.
Therefore, consider these important concepts.
Have a goal: What are your audience’s needs, wants, and what do you wish to accomplish with your story? What concept do you want to highlight or share?
Grab their attention: Every successful story has a “wow” moment, where the audience is in your shoes. They not only understand what you are sharing but they have experienced a similar circumstance in many cases.
Prove your point: Show the end result of what happened to you or a previous customer. Allow them to easily conclude what was learned and how it applies to them and their circumstance. It’s simply not enough to have a great story that does not apply to your customer, it must be transferrable to them so they see themselves in that same situation.
Engage: You can engage your audience and customers in many ways. Using humor, sadness, children, animals, money, and things we have all gone through can be beneficial at times. The effectiveness in human emotion is a very powerful tool when used with honest intent to help another such as your customer.
Empower: Show how the concept you are sharing can help your customer in making a decision on a particular product or service. Many decisions by customers may be made by the immediate financial cost without considering the long-term consequences of their decision. In some case, the long-term result could cost them much more financially. Telling a story can help them come to a proper conclusion and decision they can be satisfied with and thank you for. In addition, this usually results in more business and revenue.
I’ll give you an example of how this works in my life? First, I understand that my goal is to help improve sales and profits for my customers. Many of you may recall a story I’ve told about my dogs Pixie and Popcorn. Pixie was our beloved Staffordshire Terrier who was part of our lives for 14 years. We had a friend who is a vet come to visit us. As she was petting Pixie, she suddenly stopped and said “uh oh!” Nobody ever wants to hear “uh oh” from a dentist, doctor, or a vet as it means things may cause you some pain and money. I asked her why she said “uh oh.” She said, “I feel a tumor.” And I replied, “Maybe it’s not a tumor, but maybe a strained muscle.” She quickly responded, “I am a vet, it is a tumor.” My wife asked, “What do we do next?” “Bring her down for a full workup” , said the vet. I had no idea what a full workup is, but it only took a couple of days to find out. It meant an MRI, blood work, x-rays, and all sorts of things that cost a lot of money.
It turns out she was full of cancer. I said, “We’ll just have to put her down.” My wife May said, “The vet said she could give her some pain meds and the dog may get another year.” So we started giving her pain shots as directed. It began with one every two weeks, then one per week, then two a week. In December, Pixie could not even get up and down the stairs. We knew what was happening and knew the outcome that was about to come upon Pixie and us. So the vet was kind and made a house call. It was as good as something like that can be. She came, we said goodbye to Pixie, and she went to sleep. May and I sat on the sofa bawling our eyes out, saying “Never again, never again”. However, within only 45 days we thought, Noah (our Doberman) needs a new play partner. So we went to a Lab breeder and immediately brought home a beautiful yellow lab.
We took her to the same vet to get her shots, a health check up, and all the things you do with a new dog to keep them healthy and become part of the family.
So here is my point to this story: Did you realize that we took the new puppy to the same person who we paid a lot of money trying to keep our old dog Pixie alive? We paid her to put our old dog down to sleep and were now paying for the new dog. Why? Because she is a trusted advisor regarding everything related to our dogs. We listen and do what she says even when it costs us money, even if she gives us bad news.
You, as a contractor, plumber, or sales rep, need to become the trusted advisor for all of your customers when it comes to anything related to plumbing. By using truthful, powerful, and effective stories, you can become an advisor your customers can trust in and have confidence in to help them make sound and confident decisions regarding their plumbing needs. Some stories your customers want to hear, and others, they need to hear.
Enough for this issue, I have to go take my dogs for a walk!
More news for plumbers and plumbing contractors
Imagine robot sprayers guided by 3D “printing” instructions constructing the shell of a house, store, apartment building or office could in just one day without an on-site workforce. It’s already happening on an experimental basis in China, and could one day transform the U.S. market as well. “This technique allows you to construct strong buildings Read more
Imagine robot sprayers guided by 3D “printing” instructions constructing the shell of a house, store, apartment building or office could in just one day without an on-site workforce. It’s already happening on an experimental basis in China, and could one day transform the U.S. market as well.
“This technique allows you to construct strong buildings more quickly at a much lower cost and with great architectural flexibility,” said Behrokh “Berok” Khoshnevis, an industrial engineering professor at the University of Southern California’s Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering in Los Angeles, “Because less labor is required, the construction is much safer for the field workforce.” To bring the 3D printing process into the private sector, Khoshnevis launched Contour Crafting, and plans to build a demonstration home in the near future using robots that spray layer after layer of concrete material in a precisely controlled pattern.
While Khoshnevis knows it will take time for this innovative process to catch on, he believes it can eventually transform the market – particularly for the affordable housing market. “Most people will continue to build with wood, steel and glass, butt there is a real need for this technology,” he said in an interview with Perspective Media. “We plan to license this technology, which can bring affordable housing to communities around the world.”
How it works
At the 2013 “Inside 3D Printing” conference in San Jose, Khoshnevis explained how Contour Crafting has addressed the challenges facing large-scale layered fabrication technology. Once the 3D design for a home or other structure has been completed, it needs to be “printed” in the real world environment.To do so, a 3D printer weighing 500 pounds could be mounted on a gantry frame and brought to a construction site. It could also be placed on rails to move back and forth on a street, constructing multiple houses in sequence. Then, one or more robotic “arms” would move around the construction site, spraying concrete or a similar material – pumped from a truck – according to the printer’s 3D instructions. The robotic machines would gradually move higher on the walls and eventually to the roof of the structure as the layers of material accumulate.
One of the biggest challenges to the process was creating a mechanism that could extrude wet cement with a special hardener so it would keep its form as each successive layer is printed. “With this process, it’s possible to construct a 2,000-square-foot house, including the floors, walls and roof, in less than 20 hours,” Khoshnevis said at the conference.
Integrating functional components
One of the big questions for the building trades is how functional components like plumbing, heating, HVAC and electrical systems can be integrated into a 3D printing system. Here are several examples of the process.
- HVAC. Basically, the robot sprayer would create a solid housing for the heating, ventilation or central air-conditioning systems, which would then be installed by contractors in those trades.
- Plumbing. Khoshnevis says the Contour Crafting process has the potential to build utility conduits within walls. “This makes plumbing automation possible,” he added.
After fabrication of a certain number of wall layers, a segment of copper (or other material) pipe may be attached onto the lower segment already installed inside the conduit. The robotics system delivers the new pipe segment and has a heater element in the form of a ring. The inside (or outside) rim of each pipe segment may be pretreated with a layer of solder. The heater ring heats the connection area, melts the solder, and once the alignment is made, bonds the two pipe segments. “PVC plumbing is also possible by using adhesives for pipe connections,” he said.
- Electrical. A modular approach similar to industrial bus-bars may be used for automating electrical and communication line wiring. The modules have conductive segments for power and communication lines, and interconnect modularly. All modules may be robotically fed and connected.
“A simple robotic gripper on manipulator attached to a Contour Crafting machine can perform the task of grabbing the component and connecting it to the component already placed within the conduit,” Khoshnevis said. “The automated construction system properly positions these modules behind the corresponding openings on the walls. The only manual part of the process is inserting fixtures into the automatically constructed network.”
- Sensors. Sensors and other devices can be implanted in certain segments of the building. “Discrete sensors may also be densely placed by a robotic arm at pre-specified locations inside any type of construction material for in-process feedback for construction process control,” he said. They also provide means for inspection and tracking variables such as temperature, humidity and vibration in completed structures.”
- Insulation. Insulation as well as finish work, such as plastering of walls may be achieved by using a hybrid Contour Crafting nozzle that delivers multiple materials such as concrete, polyurethane, and plaster. After the walls are constructed, a conventional spray painting robotic manipulator driven by the same 3D instructions may paint each room according to desired specifications. “The painting mechanism may be a simple spray nozzle, or a large inkjet printer, making it possible to print wall paper or other desired patterns,” Khoshnevis said.
- Tiling. Tiling of floors and walls may be automated by robotically delivering and spreading grout and adhesives to the flooring. Another robotics arm would pick the tiles from a stack and accurately place them over the area treated with the adhesive material. “Often 60 percent of the time in manual tiling could be spent on alignment,” Khoshnevis said. “With an accurate robotic infrastructure in place alignment will not be an issue at all.”
Benefits of 3D printing
First developed more than 25 years ago, the 3D printing process involves creating solid objects from digital files using thin layers of plastics or other quick-drying substances like concrete. Layer after layer of material is laid down automatically, until the entire object is created.
“With this process, a single house or a neighborhood of home, each with a different design, could be automatically constructed in a single run,” Khoshnevis said. “The potential applications of this technology are include low-income and commercial housing.”
While it takes six to nine months to construct an average house in the U.S., Contour Crafting can complete custom-designed houses in a single day. “Worldwide, we will offer dignified but affordable housing constructed for low income populations,” he said. “We can also create comfortable and livable emergency shelters (not tents) for long-term usage by disaster victims.”
Khoshnevis says other benefits of the 3D printing process include a steep reduction in building wastes and harmful emissions during the construction process.
One of the advantages to Contour Construction’s approach is the ability to offer curvilinear architectural designs rather than traditional rectangular boxes, Khoshnevis added. “These new designs can give a fresh appearance to neighborhoods and cities.”
Looking to the future, Khoshnevis said 3D printers and automated robots could be used to construct livable habitats on the moon and Mars, which are targeted for human colonization before the end of the 21st century. In fact, Contour Crafting beat more than 1,000 other companies around the world to win the grand prize in NASA’s 2014 Tech Briefs “Create the Future Design.”
While 3D printing technology still needs to establish itself in the U.S. construction industry, it’s clear that this innovative technology has the potential to change other worlds, as well as the Earth.
People may not associate plumbers with technology, but the modern plumber knows that technology makes his job much easier. From offering customers better products and services to managing the office and fleet more effectively, modern technology is helping the plumbing industry evolve. Here are some trends to watch if you are in the field: Technology Read more
People may not associate plumbers with technology, but the modern plumber knows that technology makes his job much easier. From offering customers better products and services to managing the office and fleet more effectively, modern technology is helping the plumbing industry evolve. Here are some trends to watch if you are in the field:
Technology to Improve Customer Comfort and Health
It is not uncommon for a household to experience leaks. While some may go unnoticed, others may result in increased water bills. If you suspect your tap could be leaking, you can best handle the situation by contacting Mr Flow plumbing services to discover the best repair for such leaks.
Getting a leaking tap fixed could save you money spent on water bills and save thousands of liters of water yearly. Besides having a plumbing company resolve the issue, ensure that you always close all the taps tightly.
Today, there is high-end technology plumbing contractors use to deliver quality plumbing services. By hiring the right company with such tools, you will avoid regretting your decision in the future. This is because the problem will have gotten a permanent solution that does not need constant repairing. It would be best to do your research and identify all emerging trends now and then.
Technology Focused on Green Living
Going green” is no longer a fad; it is now deeply ingrained into today’s society. According to Hardware Retailing, 47 percent of retailers who sell plumbing products indicated that they had customers actively seeking green products for their plumbing systems. For modern plumbers, adding these into their service offerings is not just a good idea for customer service, but also a good idea for overall business growth.
Technology is helping in several ways: Consider, for example, the dishwasher. New dishwasher technology that recycles rinse water for the wash cycle can save the average family as much as 700 gallons of water a year. Home automation technology that automatically shuts off sprinkler systems based on weather reports can also help save water. Plumbing contractors that can offer these services will find themselves in high demand.
Using greywater (water that runs down the sink drain or shower drain) for other purposes in the home, such as flushing the toilet, is another water-saving innovation, and this is one area where the services of a plumber are absolutely necessary. Once installed, a greywater system can save a significant amount of money, but only a licensed plumber is able to set up the complicated system. Plumbing professionals that can learn how to offer these services will be in an excellent position to gain new clients.
Technology to Improve Customer Comfort and Health
In addition to saving water and energy, customers are looking for plumbing technology that makes them more comfortable and healthier at home. For instance, technological advancements that make toilets and faucets “touchless” are becoming increasingly popular in the home. Customers enjoy being able to close the lid, flush the toilet and wash their hands without having to touch germ-infested surfaces.
Water filtration systems are increasingly on demand as consumers are learning more about the dangers of tap water. Reverse osmosis filtration systems are a popular option in the modern home, because customers want instant access to clean drinking water.
Shower technology is also making the home experience more comfortable. Luxury faucets and showerheads can turn the home shower into a spa-like experience. Plumbers who can offer these types of upgrades to their customers will meet a growing need in the industry.
Technology to Streamline the Fleet
Most plumbing companies have a fleet of service vehicles they dispatch to deliver their services to clients; technology can make vehicle management more efficient.
GPS fleet tracking technology, for instance, allows the dispatcher to know where vehicles are and what the best route for them to take is. This limits wasted fuel from poorly planned routes and ensures drivers arrive on time. It can also limit wasted time and mileage when drivers take personal trips in company vehicles, because the technology provides a level of accountability.
With GPS fleet tracking, companies can improve customer service by ensuring that drivers are on time to their service calls. This is important, because 67 percent of customers will not do business again with a company that sends a technician an hour late, according to Software Advice, a service that assists plumbers in finding field service software. Sending drivers on time using the most productive route, and estimating arrival times accurately, requires the use of GPS fleet tracking.
Whether technology is improving the work of the plumber or the customer experience, the fact remains that it is changing the face of the industry. To ensure that your plumbing business remains relevant, be sure to keep up with these changes.
Robert J. Hall of Track Your Truck is president of one of the leading GPS vehicle tracking systems for small and midsized companies.