Sustainable Healthcare in Urban Environment

Dave Tash, AECOM
Tyson Woodby, AECOM
Bob Moore, Whiting-Turner

Many urban hospitals are faced with seemingly insurmountable barriers when trying to improve the environment of care. Limited space, constraints of existing infrastructure, and inadequate access to the natural environment were the main challenges facing Mercy Medical Center as planning began on their replacement hospital. The desired outcome was to design a complex healthcare facility within a constricted urban site that contributes to the surrounding community and creates a model of urban sustainability.

The Bunting Tower is a once-in-twenty-years contribution to a city's skyline. Its design is unmistakably evocative of Baltimore's 282-year history, and it is as forward-looking as it is warm and humane in its aesthetic expression. In addressing the unique and sometimes tremendous challenges, the Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy exemplifies sustainable and innovative engineering.

The new Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy exemplifies sustainable architecture, engineering, and innovative design. The roof-garden is a key sustainable design element in that it minimizes the building's heat-island effect, reduces demand on storm water systems, improves surrounding air quality, and reduces noise pollution. Building systems design includes engineering strategies beyond standard practice for reducing water usage, optimizing energy performance, improving outside aesthetics, and minimizing indoor pollution.

Learning Objectives

  • Participants will learn about the challenges associated with planning and designing healthcare facilities within congested and busy city blocks. They will also walk away with the knowledge on how to apply the solutions used in making this award winning facility successful.
  • Participants will learn about the unique engrg solutions used in designing this high-rise healthcare facility. Innovative energy and water conservation measures were implemented, e.g., heat recovery chiller, steam condensate heat recovery, copper-nickel water disinfection, UV kitchen grease filtration, and non-chemical CT water treatment systems.
  • Participants will learn about the exemplary sustainable architecture, engineering, and innovative design features. The roof-garden is a key sustainable design element in that it minimizes the building's heat-island effect, reduces demand on storm water systems, improves surrounding air quality, and reduces noise pollution.

Biographies:

Mr. Tash is a principal at AECOM. He leads the healthcare and life sciences engineering practice at the DC office and is the AECOM North America Lab & Pharma Market Sector leader. Mr. Tash has led numerous projects for US government such as the NIH, EPA, VA, USDA, NASA, GSA and DoD among others. He holds MS and BS in M. E. from Univ. of NC at Charlotte. His registrations include PE in several states and LEED AP, BD+C. He is a member of I2SL and has participated as a presenter and moderator.

Tyson Woodby has been a registered architect since 2002 and is an associate and senior project designer with AECOM, a global architecture firm with a healthcare studio in Arlington, Virginia. This studio has created some of the most successful hospital designs in the world. Over the past ten years, Tyson has led AECOM projects as a designer, planner, and project architect. His focus is on urban design, healthcare architecture, and interiors.

Tyson's talent and commitment to thoughtful healthcare architecture have been key to AECOM's recent contributions to the healing environment. His notable achievements include serving as lead design architect on the Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, which opens to patients in October of this year. In August, the new, 744,867-square-foot medical center was recognized as Engineering News-Record Southeast Construction “2014 Best Healthcare Project.”

Bob Moore is a Senior Project Manager at The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. He began his 19 year career with Whiting-Turner upon the completion of his Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University. His first project with the company entailed a 520,000 SF cancer center for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and he has been working within the healthcare construction industry since. Moore holds an ASHE Healthcare Construction Certificate and is an ASHE Certified Healthcare Constructor, as well as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Bob Moore is an expert in healthcare construction. His nearly 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry encompasses over $500 million and 1.3 billion SF. Additionally, Moore excels in engaging early, effective collaboration during the design/preconstruction process, employing innovative approaches to scheduling, BIM utilization, design-assist and prefabrication.

His most recent speaking engagement was at the Building Information Modeling in Healthcare, 2013 Hilti Baltimore/Washington DC Healthcare Symposium.

 

Note: I2SL did not edit or revise abstract or biography text. Abstracts and biographies are displayed as submitted by the author(s).