Case Study: 500,000 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) Variable Supply and Exhaust at Cedars—Sinai
Victor Neuman, Precision Environments Group TAC
Brad Cochran, Cermak Peterka Petersen
Cedars–Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, is constructing a 500,000 cfm variable volume supply and laboratory exhaust system to improve safety and reduce operating cost. This will be the largest system to utilize a cross-wind velocity sensor to safely modulate the exhaust velocity. This presentation will provide an in-depth exploration of the design process that resulted in this advancement, including detailed calculations for airflow around buildings.
This design has some unique features including the fan selections, the plenum design, and the specific control sequences. Most of the presentations to date on the subject of variable volume exhausts have been theoretical in nature. This presentation has the detail from the design team for a project currently being constructed.
Biographies:
Victor Neuman specializes in energy conservation for laboratory buildings and clean rooms for Tour Andover Controls. Mr. Neuman started his laboratory consulting engineering career in 1983 with Earl Walls Associates specializing in laboratory buildings. He is a recipient of ASHRAE's Distinguished Service Award and also the American Industrial Hygiene Association Laboratory Safety Award. He was awarded a Master's of Science degree in mechanical engineering from San Diego State University. His thesis addressed simulating the operation of variable volume fume hoods. He also holds a Certificate of Post-Graduate Study in Engineering from Cambridge University in Cambridge England. At Cambridge, Mr. Neuman did research in the Whittle wind tunnel. In 1998, Mr. Neuman became the head of the Irvine office of GPR Planners Collaborative/Jacobs Engineering. For much of the last 25 years, Victor has been involved in optimizing chemical exhaust fans for safety and energy.
Brad Cochran is a senior associate with Cermak Peterka Petersen (CPP) in Fort Collins, Colorado. CPP offers various levels of wind engineering services, including initial consultations, numerical (or “desktop”) analyses, computer simulations (CFD/CWE, WRF), and wind tunnel testing. CPP services help owners, architects, and engineers prevent critical wind and airflow problems early in the design phase; reduce or prevent wind-induced damage through building design testing; improve exhaust and air intake designs to support safe and comfortable indoor and outdoor environments; develop productive wind energy projects through wind resource assessments, wind farm micrositing, and wind turbine prototype performance testing; and support safe and comfortable retail, patio, and recreational areas through pedestrian-level wind testing.