Walt Dubois, PE and CHFM St. Joseph’s Hospital Phoenix, Arizona Improving Patient Comfort and Saving Energy with Noninvasive Retrofit using the Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat Walt Dubois, PE and CHFM St. Joseph’s Hospital Phoenix, Arizona

St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona Founded in 1895 by Sisters of Mercy, first hospital in Phoenix 673-bed hospital, largest in Arizona Part of Catholic Healthcare West Many legacy systems from several building phases spanning 60 years

Operating a facility in Phoenix is challenging Average of 89 days per year over 100˚ with several days reaching 118˚ Cooling is paramount objective of operations activities Optimizing HVAC equipment is essential to balance patient comfort with fiduciary responsibility to manage costs Equipment is run to the limit… When operating in the desert

Shortcomings of existing pneumatic thermostat Patient comfort is negatively impacted Problems persist without diagnostic information or remote control Energy is wasted since mechanical problems go unnoticed and DDC energy efficiency strategies cannot be executed Maintenance costs are high Hot/cold calls create ‘fires’ to fight Troubleshooting takes significant time without diagnostic information Typical Pneumatic Thermostats

Experience with pneumatic to DDC retrofits St. Joseph’s retrofitted pneumatics to DDC every year until 2008 Installed over $500,000 worth of DDC retrofits Project financing stopped due to economic downturn Retrofitting to DDC in occupied floors was slow, difficult and expensive Required significant disruption to patient rooms Labor costs, room utilization, infection control all drove up costs Hospital operations are disrupted by… Invasive DDC retrofit

Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat (WPT) presented practical alternative to DDC The WPT provides the benefits of DDC without the cost, disruption or invasiveness Noninvasive retrofit means no need for infection control and no disruption to patients The WPT provides: Remote monitoring and control Auto calibration Diagnostic information Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat DDC WPT Cost $80,000 $15,000 Project time Weeks to Months Days Disruption Significant Minimal

Ensuring the WPT was reliable for hospital environment before full deployment Reliability of new technology: Conducted two week trial of WPT to verify performance Drastically improved temperature control compared to legacy pneumatic thermostats Overall capabilities, communications and network performance proved reliable Wireless approval: Radio Frequency Officer and Biomedical Engineering Manager reviewed and approved wireless system The WPT causes no wireless interference with hospital equipment

Installation of the WPT was fast and easy—it was even installed in occupied patient rooms The WPT was installed in under 10 minutes per thermostat The wireless network was set up in about 10 minutes per thermostat WPT was installed with patients in the room (when feasible) Hospital HVAC staff completed installation in difficult-to-access rooms as they came available, usually between patients Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Identify thermostat type Remove thermostat and backplate Install WPT backplate to wall Attach pneumatic pipes to WPT Attach, calibrate and address WPT

Benefits of Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat Patients and nurses have better control of temperatures Mechanical problems addressed before patients/nurses notice Faster response to requests from patients and nurses Improved Patient Comfort Temperature setpoint policy enforced Temperature reset between patients Auto-calibration Energy Reduction Temperature adjustments made remotely Fewer hot/cold calls Less time spent troubleshooting No calibration Maintenance Savings

Future of Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat at St. Joseph’s The WPT has been identified as a key energy saving initiative Immediate plans to install WPT in administrative buildings (which can take advantage of additional features like scheduling) Eventually integrate WPTs with building automation system to employ additional energy saving strategies