Helping healthcare facilities meet environmental challenges

In 2006 local Aircuity representative, Vicon Equipment, introduced the hospital to Aircuity, which was initially chosen to improve energy efficiency in its newly developed Feigin Center, an eight-storey vertical expansion project, specifically designed for the advancement of pediatric medicine. The expansion added 200,000 square feet of space for research labs, clinical research offices, GMP space for gene therapies, a simulation centre, expanded vivarium along with an animal imaging centre.

Building upon the energy savings achieved at the Feigin Center, Texas Children’s Hospital designed Aircuity into a new research facility. The 13-story, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) building was completed in 2010 and is home to 20 principal investigators leading multi-disciplinary teams of 185 scientists and includes two levels of energy efficient animal care facilities.

In recent years Aircuity’s installation in the Feigin Center was expanded twice - once in 2012 and again in 2014. Texas Children’s is also currently evaluating installations in the Feigin Center and the Neurological Research Institute. Through the multiple Aircuity installations on Texas Children’s campus, the hospital is saving approximately $231,000 annually.

The NRI also earned the TurnKey Facility of the Year Award, based on its outstanding achievements in the design and construction of their animal laboratory. Aircuity’s demand control ventilation technology was applauded for its innovation and significant energy savings that it is providing the Neurological Research Institute.

“The Neurological Research Institute was built to bring a collaborative group of scientists together under one roof to make greater strides in addressing pediatric neurological disorders”, explained Jill Pearsall, Director Facilities Planning & Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. “Facilities have become as complex as the research that goes on within them. Putting together the right team and aligning them with the same vision and goals is critical to the success of a project and the environments created by it for years to come. Having specialists like Aircuity and Techniplast as a part of this team was key to getting it right.”