Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Critical Care Building

HEAPY was selected by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as the Healthcare Facility Commissioning Agent (HFCxA) for a new Critical Care Building, a 768,000 SF, 8-STORY EXPANSION that adds 249 beds on campus. The Critical Care Building features an emergency department, helistop, trauma rooms, urgent care, clinical labs, pharmacy, sterile processing, pediatric intensive care (PICU), cardiac intensive care (CICU), neonatal intensive care (NICU), bone marrow transplant unit, operating rooms, patient rooms, and general facility spaces such as kitchen, dining, and shell space.

Commissioning scope included all major components of mechanical, electrical, plumbing (including medical gas), fire protection, emergency/life safety, lighting, information technology, security, building automation, and building envelope/enclosure systems. Work began during schematic design and continued through construction with performance functional testing, occupancy phase reviews, seasonal testing, and measurement and verification. HEAPY facilitated the development of the owner’s project requirements, conducted design reviews during schematic, development and construction document phases, and created commissioning specifications for inclusion with bid packages.

The project included a new, 12,000 SF CENTRAL UTILITY PLANT to service the building, as well as prepare for future expansions with three chillers, three cooling towers, two dual-fuel steam generators, and two dual-fuel electric generators. The central utility plant focused on resiliency, being designed to backfeed other facilities and sized to serve as a backup for the entire campus. This added layer of redundancy provides additional support for campus emergency preparedness.

HEALTH & WELLNESS
The critical care tower is the first medical building in the world to have spectral lighting, which was developed by Cincinnati Children’s researchers. Spectral lighting is designed to mimic natural sunlight, which supports healthy sleep cycles and stimulates growth for newborns. The building features more than 1,100 pieces of art from local artists, as well as patients and family. Four gardens, including a rooftop garden, were designed to provide areas of respite and improve occupant health and wellness.

SUSTAINABILITY & ENERGY EFFICIENCY
HEAPY systematically optimized and calibrated the building systems to operate efficiently and effectively in accordance with the Owner’s Project Requirements, as well as ensuring that facility staff have adequate system documentation and training. The project is pursuing LEED certification. HEAPY verified that all commissioning documents were up to date, reviewed, and submitted for Fundamental Commissioning prerequisites.