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Balancing Safety and Comfort: MEP Solutions for Behavioral Health Facilities

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Designing behavioral health facilities requires a careful balance between safety and comfort. Patients dealing with mental health issues need secure environments, but these spaces must also promote healing without feeling overly restrictive. As MEP engineers, we play a critical role in ensuring these spaces are designed with technical precision to meet the unique demands of behavioral health care. In this blog post, we'll dive into several key areas that impact the safety and comfort of these facilities, including the FGI levels of concern, sound control, pressurization challenges, and how to create therapeutic spaces that prioritize both patient and staff well-being.

Understanding the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Levels of Concern

The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) provides multiple levels of concern for behavioral health spaces, each with specific MEP considerations. These levels inform us of how to design systems to meet both safety and therapeutic needs.

Level I: These are areas where patients are not permitted, such as mechanical rooms or staff-only spaces. While there is no immediate concern for patient safety in these areas, maintaining safe access for staff and minimizing equipment noise to surrounding areas is essential.
Level II: These areas, such as counseling rooms and activity rooms, are highly supervised, with patients under constant observation. While ligature-resistant devices are not always necessary, we must still ensure that systems like lighting and HVAC controls are intuitive and don’t interfere with therapeutic activities.
Level IV: In spaces where patients spend extended periods of time alone, such as patient rooms and restrooms, we employ ligature-resistant fixtures and devices to reduce opportunities for self-harm. MEP systems must support a comforting, non-institutional atmosphere while maintaining the highest level of safety.
Level V: This includes spaces like seclusion rooms and admission areas where staff may interact with patients in crisis. These environments require robust safety features, including pressurization systems to control airflow and minimize contamination, and highly durable, tamper-proof fixtures.

Acoustic and Sound Control: Ensuring a Quiet Healing Environment

Sound control is critical in behavioral health settings, where loud noises or mechanical equipment vibrations can increase anxiety or agitation in patients. Careful placement of equipment, particularly HVAC systems and air handlers, is essential to avoid noise disruption. Additionally, sound-absorbing materials in ceilings, walls, and floors can mitigate unwanted noise, creating a quieter, more calming atmosphere for patients.

Pressurization and Safety: Keeping Doors Closed and Secure

Proper pressurization is vital for both patient safety and staff security. Behavioral health facilities often have areas where doors must remain securely closed to prevent elopement or unauthorized access. Improper pressurization can cause significant issues, such as the security doors failing to close properly—an issue we encountered on a recent commissioning job. In behavioral health environments, especially where safety is paramount, pressurization imbalances can’t be overlooked. Our team ensures that the airflows are appropriately designed and balanced to avoid such problems.

Creating Safe, Therapeutic Spaces

Perhaps the greatest challenge in behavioral health design is striking the right balance between safety and comfort. These spaces need to offer the necessary security to protect patients and staff, while also fostering a healing environment. The goal is not to create an environment that feels restrictive, but rather a space where patients feel supported and respected.

MEP engineers play a crucial role in achieving this balance by integrating ligature-resistant devices, ensuring proper sound control, and maintaining secure pressurization systems. Our technical expertise allows us to create spaces that are safe, secure, and supportive of patient healing, all while providing the functionality required for staff to do their jobs effectively.

At EMA Engineering & Consulting, we are committed to designing behavioral health facilities that serve as both safe havens and healing environments—spaces where patients and staff alike can feel protected without sacrificing comfort or dignity

Our team recently completed work on the UT Health Science Center Behavioral Health Unit renovations, so we sat down with Cameron Baker, the project manager, to discuss how our healthcare team implemented the MEP design considerations outlined in this blog.

Question: How did your design approach balance patient safety while maintaining comfort and a therapeutic environment at the UT Health Science Center project?

Cameron: Firstly, we had extensive conversations with the owner to clearly understand the different safety levels required throughout the facility. For example, in the patient rooms where patients would be left alone for periods of time, we knew we needed a higher level of safety, so we focused on using ligature-resistant fixtures and devices for anything the patients could interact with - plumbing, lighting, ceiling-mounted equipment, etc.

For the seclusion rooms, which were designated as Level 5 high-risk areas, we had to be even more stringent. We went in and removed all standard electrical outlets, light fixtures, and other potential ligature points, replacing them with specialized tamper-proof, ligature-resistant alternatives to ensure the highest level of patient safety.

We also renovated a visitor's restroom to meet these stringent Level 5 safety requirements, so patients could safely use the restroom during visits with family members.

Another key challenge was the outdoor courtyard space. While this was meant to provide a therapeutic, nature-connected environment for patients, we still had to address safety concerns, like removing an exposed exhaust fan that could pose a risk. Our solution was to replace it with a flat, ligature-resistant exhaust system that maintained the required airflow without compromising patient well-being.

Throughout the project, our focus was on creating spaces that felt comfortable and non-institutional, while rigorously addressing safety factors through our MEP designs. It was all about striking that careful balance to support the healing process.

Question: How did you ensure proper pressurization and sound control in the behavioral health environment?

Cameron: Pressurization was critical, especially in areas like the seclusion rooms where doors needed to remain securely closed at all times. We put a lot of emphasis on getting the airflow dynamics right, ensuring the pressurization was properly balanced so the doors would seal tightly and not have any issues closing.

Sound control was another major consideration. We knew that excessive noise or vibrations from mechanical equipment could increase anxiety and agitation in patients. So we paid very close attention to the placement and sound-dampening of HVAC systems, air handlers, and other equipment. We also incorporated sound-absorbing materials in the ceilings, walls, and floors to create a quieter, more calming environment overall.

Achieving the right balance of pressurization, airflow, and acoustics was crucial in making these spaces feel safe and therapeutic for the patients.

As we continue to advance in the field of behavioral health design, it's clear that achieving a balance between safety and comfort is key to creating spaces that truly support healing. Through thoughtful MEP design, we help ensure that every space serves its purpose—providing security without compromising the therapeutic atmosphere necessary for recovery. At EMA Engineering & Consulting, we are proud to contribute to this important work, and we look forward to supporting future projects that help make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who need it most

Navigating the Complexities of Catheterization Laboratory Design

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 05:00:00 +0000

As healthcare facilities continue to evolve, catheterization labs (cath labs) have become an essential part of modern hospitals. These specialized spaces play a crucial role in cardiovascular care, providing both diagnostic and interventional procedures. Hospitals are heavily investing in state-of-the-art cath labs for several reasons such as improved patient outcomes, competitive advantages and economic benefits. As professional engineers, our role is to help design reliable systems, so these vital spaces operate safely, efficiently, and effectively. However, designing an efficient and effective cath lab isn't easy; it requires careful planning and expertise to meet the unique challenges involved. Let's dive into some of the key factors that make cath lab design such a complex and critical aspect of hospital infrastructure.

Space Constraints: The Ultimate Challenge

One of the most significant hurdles in cath lab design is maximizing functionality within limited space. Every square foot must be optimized to accommodate a wide array of equipment while ensuring smooth workflow and patient safety. This challenge affects all disciplines involved in the design process:

Mechanical Systems: Air Circulation and Limited Space

Stringent code requirements demand precise air circulation and filtration. Diffuser selection and placement over the operating table is crucial to patient safety and infection control.

Designing ductwork and diffuser layouts in conjunction with imaging equipment is a challenge. Ceiling mounted imaging equipment plays a large role in these spaces and must be close to the operating table. Coordination of imaging equipment, diffusers and lighting is paramount to the effectiveness of the space.

Electrical Systems: Power and Redundancy

The imaging equipment in cath labs requires significant normal and emergency power systems. In addition, other medical devices and tools in the lab must be identified and included in the electrical design.

Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and emergency power systems are essential to ensure procedures can be completed during power outages.

Careful coordination is necessary to ensure all critical systems and equipment have redundancy.

Lighting: Balancing Function and Space

Proper lighting is critical for both general illumination and specialized task lighting during procedures.

Illumination over the operating table is important, but ceiling-mounted equipment often competes for space with lighting fixtures, requiring innovative solutions that provide the necessary illumination with a minimal footprint.

Another challenge in imaging spaces is finding a lighting system that works well with the visual screens needed for the procedures. Glare on the imaging screens can hinder the medical team during delicate procedures.

Innovative Solutions for Space Optimization

To address these challenges, several strategies have proven successful in our experience

Grid system:

Modular ceiling systems are common in cath labs because they provide interchangeable locations for diffusers, lights, ceiling supports and imaging equipment. They also give the flexibility to modify the locations in the future with equipment upgrades or room modifications and minimize the number of penetrations in the monolithic ceilings to achieve a more seamless appearance.

Green lighting and tunable lighting:

With the implementation of new lighting technology, the color of the lighting can now be customized by the medical team. Green lighting is gaining popularity in cath labs due to its glare reduction on imaging screens when compared to standard lighting. Green light also influences the appearance of blood and heightens the medical team’s ability to recognize the substance. Tunable lighting allows the medical team to change the color of the lighting for different tasks or personal preferences.

Integrated lights and diffusers:

Another innovative solution is an integrated supply diffuser and light fixture. By combining the two devices, the lighting and airflow over the table can be delivered in a smaller space footprint.

EMA Recognized as 2024 Best Firm to Work for by Zweig Group

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 05:00:00 +0000

We are proud to announce that EMA has been recognized as one of the 2024 Best Firms to Work For by Zweig Group, a leading industry organization that evaluates and ranks architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms across the United States and Canada. This prestigious award honors our firm as one of the industry's most outstanding workplaces.

Our ranking was determined through a comprehensive survey of our employees, conducted by Zweig Group. The survey evaluated various aspects of our organization, including workplace practices, employee benefits, retention rates, and more. By participating in this survey, we gained valuable insights from our employees on areas where we excel and opportunities for improvement.

Being named one of the Best Firms to Work For is a testament to our commitment to creating an exceptional work environment that fosters growth, collaboration, and employee satisfaction. We take pride in this achievement and remain dedicated to continually enhancing our workplace culture to attract and retain top talent within the AEC industry.

At EMA, we take pride in creating arEMArkable work environment for our valued employees. In a positive workplace, all employees have the opportunity to be their best!

Check out the link below to read more about the award winners!

Zweig Group announces 2024 Best Firms To Work For Award Winners

A REMARKABLE CELEBRATION!

Wed, 29 May 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Refrigerants Codes and Standards

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Purpose of Montreal Protocol

International treaty intended to engage world nations in phasing out production of substances shown to deplete stratospheric ozone and adversely impact climate change. Of particular interest to HVAC, refrigerants have shown ozone depletion and global warming potential. The Montreal Protocol presents the terms and dates of phase-outs of several refrigerants used in HVAC equipment.

Timeline of Montreal Protocol:

1987: Terms of treaty agreed on.
1989: Treaty ratified by 198 nations across the world.
2010: Phaseout of R-22 equipment with timeline of R-22 refrigerant production to gradually reduce to zero by 2020. Industry adopts R-410A as primary refrigerant.
2019: Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol laying out terms of phaseout of HFC refrigerants like R-410A and R-134a
2025: Phaseout of R-410A and R-134a equipment effecting all comfort cooling/heating systems including RTUs, chillers, split systems, etc.
2026: Phaseout of R-410A in VRF systems.

How does this affect you?

Starting January 1st, 2025, HVAC equipment, excluding VRF, will not be available with R-410A or R-134a. Refrigerant will still be available for some time, but refrigerant production will be phasing down, similar to how the industry handled the phase down of R-22. Major manufactures are switching over to R-32 or R-454B for R-410A equipment. R-513A will be commonly used in place of R-134a chillers. HVAC technicians and service personnel will carry different refrigerants depending upon the manufacturer. R-32 is not a blended refrigerant so it can be added to units without evacuating all the refrigerant in the unit. R-454B, much like R-410A, is a blended refrigerant so it is highly recommended all refrigerant be evacuated from the unit prior to adding any new R-454B. This helps maintain proper mixtures of the blend to maintain unit capacities and efficiencies.

Major Manufacturer Plans:

AAON:
- R-454B for all RTU’s and split systems and most chillers;
- R-513A for medium pressure chillers
Captive Aire
- R-454B for all RTU’s
Carrier
- R-454B for all RTU’s and split systems and most chillers;
- R-513A for medium pressure chillers
Daikin
- R-32 for all RTUs and split systems and, most chillers;
- R-513A for medium pressure chillers.
Greenheck
- R-454B for all RTUs
JCI/York
- R-454B for all RTUs and split systems and most chillers; R-513A for medium pressure chillers.
Lennox
- R-32 for all RTUs and split systems.
Trane
- R-454B for all RTUs and split systems and most chillers;
- R-513A for medium pressure chillers
LG
- R-32 for all split systems.
Mitsubishi
- R-32 for all split systems.

How does EMA recommend you move forward?

EMA recommends moving forward with any new equipment purchased to utilize the low GWP refrigerants. Verify with manufacturer on timing of equipment availability.

For all additional inquiries contact the experts at EMA at - refrigerants@emaengineer.com or (903) 581-2677.

Navigating the Complex Requirements of Compounding Pharmacy Design

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Compounding pharmacies have highly complex mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) requirements compared to standard pharmacies. This presents unique design challenges for architects and healthcare facility owners. By understanding a few key considerations and collaborating with experienced MEP engineers, you can successfully tackle your compounding pharmacy project.

New Quality and Safety Protocols

One major design implication is the recent revision of USP Chapters 795 and 797 as well as the enforceability of USP Chapter 800 standards specifically for handling of hazardous drugs. This standard mandates strict contamination control through pressurization zones and temperature and humidity settings for staff safety and drug handling. Key factors during design and construction include HVAC equipment selection, floor plan layout, and enclosure construction to prevent infiltration.

Another key requirement is building redundancy into systems that impact drug storage and ongoing operations. Redundancies in critical equipment like HVAC units are essential to allow uninterrupted delivery for patient needs. Critical power from the Essential Electrical System (EES) is required to ensure the safe storage of hazardous drugs during power failures. Architectural spaces also need flexibility to avoid frequent renovation when protocols evolve. Existing spaces renovated into compounding pharmacies may present especially difficult challenges for the design team.

Leveraging MEP Engineering Expertise

MEP engineers are indispensable partners for navigating the technical demands of compounding pharmacies. The MEP firm should combine expertise in pharmaceutical standards and an understanding of the architectural and construction challenges of these spaces.

Collaborating early in design development allows the MEP team to strategize layouts, zoning, redundancies, and construction sequencing in ways that balance contamination control, system redundancies, and capital costs. This ensures that the space exceeds the stringent requirements of these critical spaces.

While compounding pharmacies present challenges, an experienced MEP engineer can provide this expertise, so that architects and owners can feel confident they have the right solutions in place from day one.

Celebrating 50 Years of Remarkable Engineering: A Yearlong Journey Begins

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 06:00:00 +0000

In the dynamic world of engineering, milestones are not just markers of time; they are reflections of extraordinary journeys. This year marks a REMARKABLE chapter in the story of EMA as we proudly celebrate our 50th anniversary!

Half a century ago, two ambitious visionaries, Jim Estes and James D. McClure, embarked on a journey to make a lasting impact in the engineering landscape. Their passion laid the foundation for what has grown into a thriving community of friendly engineers, problem-solvers, and collaborators – the heart and soul of EMA.

As we kick off our 50th-anniversary campaign, the theme that resonates through every plan and initiative is “EMA is REMARKABLE." We want this year to be a testament to the REMARKABLE strides we've taken, the REMARKABLE closeness of our dedicated employees, and the REMARKABLE relationships we've built with our valued clients. Our journey has been nothing short of extraordinary, marked by collaborative growth, shared successes, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. It's a journey of engineers, designers, and professionals coming together, facing challenges, and creating solutions that redefine what's possible.

What can you expect from this yearlong celebration?

Exciting Events and Initiatives: Throughout the year, we'll roll out a series of REMARKABLE events, spotlights on team achievements, and initiatives that reflect our commitment to innovation.

Employee Journeys: Our incredible employees are the driving force behind our success. Get ready to meet the faces behind EMA, hear their stories, and celebrate the REMARKABLE contributions each one has made.

Client Appreciation: Our clients have been an integral part of our journey. This year, we're dedicating special moments to express our gratitude, celebrate successes, and strengthen the REMARKABLE partnerships we've built over the years.

This campaign is more than a celebration; it's a reflection of our collective commitment to the REMARKABLE. Together, let's make the next 50 years even more extraordinary!

Stay tuned for an incredible year ahead!

Exploring Sustainability and Energy Efficiency with EMA's Energy/Sustainability Leader

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 06:00:00 +0000

In our first blog post, we're excited to introduce Biraj Bhandari, EMA's Energy/Sustainability Leader, as we delve into a topic that resonates deeply with him – the world of sustainability and energy efficiency. Check out the conversation below between Biraj and EMA’s Marketing Director, Stacy Sanders, as they explore the significance of sustainability and energy efficiency for facility owners and architects and get a glimpse of what's coming in our future blog issues.

Stacy: Biraj, it's a pleasure to have you here for our first blog post. Could you start by sharing a bit about your background and expertise in sustainability and energy efficiency?

Biraj: I'm glad to be here for the first blog post. I have a mechanical engineering background, focusing on data-driven energy management and sustainable design. My experience includes working on various projects to develop a sustainable built environment and optimize building performance in different sectors like education campuses, health care facilities, office buildings, manufacturing, industrial facilities, etc. I'm passionate about finding innovative solutions to help our clients meet their sustainable development goals through energy-efficient practices and technologies in both design and operation.

Stacy: That's impressive, Biraj. Sustainability is a hot topic in the engineering world, but why is it so important to you and your team at EMA?

Biraj: Sustainability is in everything we do, as an individual and as professionals. Being able to visualize building energy systems with a lens of sustainability empowers us and our clients to make better decisions as it relates to financial aspects, system resilience and maintenance, environmental performance, occupant health & experience. It’s important to our team at EMA because providing sustainability focused, quality consulting services to make informed decisions is embedded in our core of total client focus.

Stacy: That's a compelling case for the importance of sustainability. Facility owners and architects have a lot to gain from it. Can you elaborate on why these professionals should be especially attentive to energy efficiency and sustainability in their projects?

Biraj: Sustainability is in everything we do as an individual and as professionals. Visualizing building energy systems with a lens of sustainability empowers us and our clients to make better decisions related to financial aspects, system resilience and maintenance, environmental performance, occupant health & experience. It’s important to our team at EMA because providing sustainability-focused consulting services to make informed decisions is embedded in our core of Total Client Focus.

Stacy: Thank you for shedding light on the importance of these issues. To wrap up, could you give our readers a sneak peek into what they can expect from our future posts on sustainability and energy efficiency?

Biraj: Of course! In our upcoming blog issues, we will explore trending topics in the sustainability world, from case studies around design and data-driven building performance improvements to life-cycle analysis for different MEP systems (including hybrid geothermal systems!). We'll also share insights and lessons learned from our team's experiences throughout the year. Sustainability is an ever-evolving field, and we're excited to keep our readers informed and engaged with the latest developments.

Stacy: That sounds fantastic. We look forward to delving deeper into these crucial topics in the coming months. Thank you, Biraj!

As EMA embarks on this blogging adventure, we're committed to providing valuable insights into sustainability and energy efficiency. Biraj, with his wealth of expertise, offers a unique perspective on why these topics are vital. Stay tuned for more in-depth explorations of the sustainability world and other valuable topics!