HEALTHCARE VENTILATION


EC plug fans, better-insulated AHU casing, and an improved heat recovery unit with better control parameters, could pay back the capital costs in 3-5 years, and not need replacing for a further 25 years. For example, typically the electrical running costs for a traditional belt-driven fan and older technology electric motor servicing an operating theatre suite or other specialised healthcare facility, would be about 1.5 kW, with the fans in some cases running ‘24/7’ and 365 days a year. If the healthcare organisation pays 15p for a kWhr, then the electrical cost to drive the motor for a year would be £2,064. Also, there would be a similar cost for the extract fan, nominally the same size, making £4,128 per year. Additional revenue savings with a new AHU plant would include lower maintenance costs associated with servicing belts and pulleys, plus higher reliability and improved availability.


Retrofitting Retrofitting just the new EC plug fans in place of the older technology, backward curved centrifugal fans would produce savings typically of around 47%-53% on electricity usage for the motors and fans alone. A typical payback for installing an EC fan as a retrofit into an existing AHU would be less than 21 months, and may be as little as 12 months. Units with large legacy fan units – see Figure 2 – that supply large amounts of air can be replaced by fan walls, which are an array of, for example, 3 x 3 fans – a total of 9 – see Figure 3. Shaun Sutton, managing director of


verification company, Air Projects, agrees with David Livingstone that – irrespective of the age of the air-handling plant – regular and thorough maintenance is essential to keep energy running costs down. He explained: “Filters that are blocked with dust increase the resistance, and therefore the power required, to push air through the ducts. Units that are supplying too many air changes are also increasing the costs of hospital ventilation. “As verifiers, we look at hundreds of critical ventilation systems in healthcare settings every year. Energy savings are a significant factor in the thinking of most Trusts, and keeping their air-handling unit plant properly maintained, and planning to replace ageing plant, are, in my opinion, the best way to reduce energy wastage in this area.”


References 1 Perry JL, Agui JH, Vijayakumar R. NASA Research: Submicron and Nanoparticulate Matter: Removal by HEPA-Rated Media Filters and Packed Beds of Granular Materials. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Space Administration, Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, Alabama, May 2016.


David Livingstone David Livingstone B.Eng (Hons), C.Eng,


FIHEEM, MCIBSE, MBCS, Authorising Engineer and consultant engineer, is a Chartered Engineer and the MD of DRLC, Consulting Engineers. In addition to supplying NHS Trusts and other healthcare providers with technical expertise and Authorising Engineers, DRLC provides design review services for engineering design for healthcare, Premises Assurance Model (PAM) assessments, and CQC assurance inspections to NHS Trusts. Starting his engineering career as a time-served Marine Engineer in the Merchant Navy, David Livingstone worked his way up to achieving qualifications as a Second Engineer and obtaining his steam ticket. He worked on a variety of ocean-going ships, including container carriers and oil tankers. On coming shoreside he got his first post in the NHS as an engineer in the Estates Department of the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, one of England’s largest hospital sites. Seeking varied engineering


experience, he moved from NHS estates maintenance to delivering engineering projects for Sheffield Hallam University, and then to becoming head of Estates for Nottingham University Trust. His NHS career culminated in him being a director of Estates and Facilities. He launched DRLC Ltd in 2016 with a view to providing Authorising Engineering Services to healthcare providers. Having since grown, the company now provides Authorising Engineers for Ventilation, Fire Safety, and Pressure Systems, and engineering design review.


Thanks are also due for their contribution to this article to Shaun Sutton, managing director and Ventilation verifier, Air Projects; Nick Evans, Energy Environment Sustainability manager for Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) and Lincolnshire Community Health Service NHS Trust (LCHS), and Andrew Carnegie, MD, Air Sentry.


Louise Webb Louise Webb MBChB, MSc Computer


Studies, PGCert, Fellow of the British Computer Society, and Association of Project Management Professional, is a Chartered IT Professional and Project director at DRLC, Consulting Engineers. DRLC works with NHS Trusts and other healthcare providers supplying technical expertise and Authorising Engineers to them in the areas of Ventilation, Fire Safety, and Pressure Systems.


Louise Webb started her career as a Medical student at Edinburgh University. She went on to gain a MSc in Computer Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, before spending five years at Sheffield heavy engineering company, Davy McKee, where she automated the process of sending engineering drawing details to the factory floor. She also created a search engine for engineering estimate production.


After a break to have children, she returned to work for BT as a senior project manager, where she gained an NVQ Level 4 in Project Management, and helped Google get its first servers installed in the UK. She also managed the implementation of firewalls for FTSE100 financial services companies, and was instrumental in rolling out broadband to schools in Yorkshire and Humberside.


Looking for a variety of project management experience, she set up her own company, and won work from a variety of clients, including Leeds City Council and the Department of Health. Having been asked to create an online training module by Sheffield Hallam University, she realised she enjoyed teaching, and went on to teach Master’s level students at Hallam and the University of Bedfordshire and Anglia Ruskin.


As Project director, Louise Webb has helped DRLC to grow over the past six years, and has just embarked upon a MSc in Building Services Engineering at Heriot Watt University.


February 2022 Health Estate Journal 57


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