VRF System Cools Bermuda’s First Urgent Care Center

On Friday, September 5, 2003, Hurricane Fabian scored a direct hit on Bermuda with sustained winds of 126 mph causing serious damage to the causeway on the east side of the island. Hundreds of home and business owners were stranded for four days. The Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB), the island’s sole health care provider, decided it was time to plan for two emergency (urgent) care centers (UCC) – one on each side of the island. “The emergency department of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital has been facing a lot of pressure to meet increased patient needs,” said David Hill, BHB’s chief executive officer. “With 35,000 visits to our emergency department last year, it is time to reach beyond the hospital and provide improved medical access at both island ends.”

Prototype Design
To prepare these two centers, BHB turned to OBM International, Hamilton, Bermuda, for structural and mechanical engineering. For overall design and programming services, BHB selected Cannon Design, Grand Island, N.Y., with which OBM had joined forces for the creation of many high-profile buildings on the island. Working with the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, BHB acquired property on the old U.S. Naval Air Station site at the eastern side of the island in St. David’s. Under the guidance of BHB’s Director of Emergency Dr. Edward Schultz, MD, the design team developed plans for Bermuda’s first urgent care center – a prototype two-story, 7,500-square-foot facility that would be replicated on the island’s west side at a future date. Ground was broken in July 2008. The first UCC opened its doors in April 2009 as the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Center, named after two celebrated nurses – Annie Foggo and Susan Lamb – who attended to all of the health care needs for citizens on the east and west ends of the island.

A Perfect System for Healthcare Facilities
After extensive consultation between Dr. Schultz and the design team, Variable Refrigerant Flow Zoning (VRF) zoning systems from Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating Solutions, Suwanee, Ga., was selected for Lamb Foggo. George Skinner, GSC Limited (project HVAC contractor), Hamilton, Bermuda, said that a number of factors were significant in selecting VRF systems for the center.

Skinner explained why the VRF technology and equipment is an excellent comfort solution for health care facilities. “The system’s fan coil units are small and limit the amount of possible cross contamination of airflow between individual zones,” he said. “They are extremely quiet – as low as 24 dB(A) – a factor that is especially important in health care facilities.”

He went on to define other significant Mitsubishi Electric system benefits for health care providers, such as the fact that the outdoor units are small and extremely quiet – as low as 56 dB(A). With Bermuda’s energy costs in the vicinity of $0.30 per kW, VRF zoning technology offers considerable energy savings over conventional DX or chilled water systems. In addition, VRF systems are less expensive than chilled water systems. Health care facilities often require different temperatures in different areas at different times simultaneously – Mitsubishi Electric VRF systems are one of the few that provide this benefit. Other benefits include low maintenance costs, factory-mounted controls that simplify and reduce the cost of the control system and faster, simplified installation compared to conventional chilled water systems.

VRF Systems - Good for Bermuda
Skinner said that Mitsubishi Electric VRF systems have been marketed, serviced and supported in Bermuda for the past 10 years. “We like this technology here because it delivers more than enough heat required in Bermuda’s winter months. By contrast, electric resistance heat is the most common way of providing heat in Bermuda and is very costly considering Bermuda’s high energy costs. Also, because of the proprietary INVERTER technology, Mitsubishi Electric VRF systems are especially suited for medical facilities because they provide a high degree of personalized, zoned confort, energy efficiency and unequaled quietness.”

A Model Prototype
“The first six months of Lamb Foggo operation have gone smoothly,” Skinner said. “It’s hard to imagine how we survived all these years without this fine St. David’s facility. Members of our staff visit the facility regularly to make sure all is running properly. I firmly believe the Lamb Foggo design and equipment will provide an ideal prototype for the next urgent care center on the west side of the Island.”