When it comes to the world of healthcare, the term “exhausted” is generally regarded as a bad thing. In fact, the word is frequently associated with long hours, limited supplies, and few options—none of which are particularly positive. However, when it comes to healthcare facilities, exhaustion (especially the effective dispersion of those exhausts) is actually a good thing as it relates to environmental air quality, patient health, and operational excellence.

Unfortunately, plume dispersion associated with architectural aerodynamics is often the most overlooked and/or marginalized of considerations in the design and construction of healthcare facilities…right up to the moment when there is an issue.

These moments often take the form of odors, comments, complaints, or the unnerving realization that your building’s indoor air quality is a nuisance at best and/or a bona fide health hazard at worst. Whether it’s the distracting aroma of fried foods in the operating room, the noxious fumes from generators and emergency vehicles finding their way back inside the building, or the invisible threat of airborne pathogens improperly dispersed and reintroduced into the environment, none of these scenarios result in healthy outcomes.

Here are the most common culprits we encounter in healthcare facilities:

External Factors

Emergency vehicles and other essential systems generally require fuel, and burning fuel generates emissions. Engine exhaust is almost always present near hospitals, medical centers, and emergency rooms. From helicopter jet fuel exhaust and diesel fumes emanating from delivery trucks to idling ambulances and backup generators, keeping these offenders out of your building is frequently a challenge.

Internal Factors

Many facilities operate essential services like cafeteria kitchens, laboratories, and pharmacies—each capable of generating odors that can negatively affect staff performance and impact the patient experience. Surgeons have trouble concentrating when the operating room smells like french fries or boiler exhaust. On-premise laboratories use reagents and chemicals as part of their diagnostic and testing work which may produce odors or fumes. Similarly, in-house pharmacies may perform compounding under a pharmacy hood to help ensure unwanted odors or fumes don’t spread throughout the building. And perhaps most importantly, infectious isolation rooms are meant to protect both the patient and everyone else from pathogens. Ensuring that circulated air from such rooms is properly vented and doesn’t pose a risk to others is non-negotiable.

When surgeons and staff—upon whom patients’ lives frequently depend—are continually exposed to potentially harmful emissions or distracted by odors like these, the situation can easily and suddenly escalate from mere inconvenience to legitimate operational risk and financial liability. And the consequences of failing to adequately plan for or mitigate environmental air quality issues don’t stop at the doors of your facilities. Repercussions are often felt at every level of the designer/builder/operator/administrator ecosystem.

Architects and Designers

Designers want to design, not deal with things like risk mitigation, expensive retrofits, and having to explain why they didn’t know about these types of potential issues in advance—all of which could have been avoided by including one of our wind engineers early in the building design process.

Surgeons, Staff, and Patients

It’s safe to say all surgery patients want their surgeon operating free from distraction, and that includes unwanted odors in the surgical suite. And when staff are constantly complaining about odors or fumes, it diverts their attention away from caring for people. Moreover, when patients and their families experience air quality issues, it can cause them to question the quality of other aspects of their care.

Administrators and Facility Teams

One of the by-products of unwanted odors in your building is the extensive amount of time and number of resources spent by administrators and facility teams dealing with the issues. Complaints from staff and patients rarely subside unless the problem is resolved.

The good news is that CPP Wind Engineering is able to prevent and/or remedy these types of malodorous afflictions regardless of when you decide to seek treatment. A proactive approach during the planning stage is always best but not feasible when dealing with an existing facility. The next best option is an interactive approach at the time of construction, collaborating and consulting with one of our experts on ductwork routing, fan sizes, filter installations, and other beneficial considerations. And while a reactive approach is obviously not ideal, the sooner you diagnose and treat the root causes and treat the symptoms, the better it is for everyone.

Proactive (aka Prevention)

Designers typically plan for engineers to connect ventilation systems via the shortest route possible. That’s usually regarded as an engineering best practice. However, an even better practice is to allow our experts to help conceptualize this aspect of the building design, where exhausts and ducting can be designed into optimal spaces to avoid these kinds of issues prior to construction. By engaging us early, they minimize their risk and head off potentially big issues in the future, which means they can devote time, energy, and budget to making some other part of the project better.

This approach adds significant value by uncovering more efficient and more sustainable design options; increasing occupant health, comfort, and productivity; lowering energy costs; and reducing risk and liability over the life of the building. Even if filters or other add-ons will be needed, the planner can account for it in the budget and not be surprised by these needs later on. Foresight and planning are considerably less expensive than retrofits and mitigation.

Interactive (aka Intervention)

We review approved design plans prior to or during construction and offer input that can benefit the project immediately and head off potential issues in the future. By working with our team at this stage, we are able to flag any potential issues early before having to rework the project or resort to heroic measures later. Recommendations might include things like adding filters or grease scrubbers to the kitchen air handling system or adding a larger fan in the pharmacy to ensure proper venting and dispersion of fumes.

Reactive (aka Mitigation)

Sometimes, these symptoms don’t present until much later on. The addition of a new wing, changes in adjacent structures, or even intermittent shifts in wind direction can manifest a concern. Our team works directly with operations people to understand what’s happening and when, often performing field monitoring in addition to modeling to help identify the issue and diagnose the problem. We then generate recommendations for remediation and coordinate with the appropriate resources to implement those solutions.

CTA:

Breathe Easier with CPP Wind

Without proper airflow management and/or mitigation, odors, fumes, infectious air, and other types of contaminants can find their way back inside your facility and negatively impact your operation. Don’t let that happen to you. To learn more about preventing or mitigating air quality issues in your facility, contact a CPP Wind consultant today.