Replace E-Wing Air Handler Units (AHU)

Department of Veterans Affairs

VISN 21, Spark M. Matsunaga Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Honolulu, HI

Romanyk Consulting provided architectural and engineering services to replace four aging indoor air handlers currently serving 88,405 sq. ft. of administrative space within the E-Wing of Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Romanyk Consulting Corp. (RCC) provided architectural and engineering services to replace four (4) aging indoor air handlers currently serving the E-Wing of Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. RCC provided site investigation, review of design options, field measurements, technical review of drawings and specifications, engineering assessments, and evaluation, engineering calculations, design documents, and construction documents.

In 2018, E-Wing chiller was replaced but the renovation did not update the Air Handler Units (AHU) and Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). The 20-year old AHU is past its lifecycle and needed to be replaced to meet the hospital’s current demands. RCC’s in-house A/E team investigated and documented the existing conditions of the AHU and VFD of the East Wing of Tripler Army Medical Center. Through site investigations and pre-design Test and Balance (TAB) services, the capacity, and conditions of each of the four (4) air handlers and dependent systems were determined in addition to the conditions of the surrounding utility components within the mechanical room spaces. After assessing and analyzing the condition of the AHU and VFD, the team developed construction documents to retrofit the hospital’s HVAC system to include a new AHU on all floors of the E-Wing.

MECHANICAL

Four (4) air handlers and their associated airside/waterside systems located within their respective mechanical spaces will be replaced with new units with 5% additional capacity. Preliminary equipment pathways and phasing/sequencing were considered and addressed within the design. The new AHUs service administrative office space, no patient care spaces are affected by the new AHUs.

ELECTRICAL

The existing AHU’s are connected to the normal power system. In order to comply with current standards, the new AHUs need to be connected to the emergency power system. RCC identified an existing emergency panel within the basement electrical room that has available spares. All systems, components and accessories follow the codes and standards outlined in the VA Design Manuals for Electrical, Lighting, Physical Security, Sustainable Design and all referenced codes and standards therewithin.

ARCHITECTURAL

The architectural impacts for this project require the removal and replacement of the exterior louvers which will create an opening for equipment pathways/craning of demolished and new equipment. All systems, components and accessories follow the codes and standards outlined in the VA Design Manuals for Architectural, Material and Solid Waste Management, Physical Security, Sustainable Design, Interior Design, and Signage and Wayfinding.