Category 8Project of the Year Subcontractor ($3 - $6 Million)
ProjectBoulder Community Hospital
OwnerBoulder Community Hospital
General ContractorGerald H. Phipps
ArchitectsBoulder & Associates OZ Architecture
EngineerBCER Engineering
Civil EngineerCivitas
Submitted ByLudvik Electric Co.
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LUDVIK ‘LEEDS’ AS ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR
The Boulder Community Hospital was founded in 1922 as a community-owned and operated not-for-profit hospital. Through the years, the hospital has remained dedicated to meeting the evolving healthcare needs of the citizens and providing access to high quality medical care.
The hospital was challenged by Boulder County’s burgeoning population growth, along with the aging of the citizens. This would mean more people need more health care services now. With some services at the main hospital currently near capacity and overall patient volume growing at least 6% each year since 1994, there was a huge impact on Boulder Community Hospital. In 2000, patient volume jumped 12%. The facility was landlocked with no space to expand. In order to accommodate an ever-increasing number of patients, they added staff, expanded hours, and streamlined and relocated services. Still, these measures were not adequate to handle the projected growth. The goal was to build a satellite campus to free up space at the main hospital in order to expand services for the aging population both now and in the future. After careful planning, a decision was made that a new hospital facility would enable them to relocate the maternity and pediatric services. This would open space at the main hospital, and with a second emergency branch, there would be quicker access to medical care at the main campus.
In August 2001, the City gave final approval to annex the 48-acre site, which was designated for the new three-story, 200,000 square foot hospital project. The owner and operator, Boulder Community Hospital, selected Gerald H. Phipps as General Contractor for the most elite and refined hospital to built in the State of Colorado. Phipps chose Ludvik Electric Co. as the Design-Assist Electrical Contractor. Construction of the facility began in December 2001.
Much of the area around the building site is situated in the Boulder Creek flood plain. Extensive preparation was required as the water table is 2 feet below the surface. After dewatering systems were established, Ludvik Electric connected sump pumps for continuous dewatering so that foundations could be
installed. Ludvik’s staging areas had to be located outside the basement because of the potential for flooding.
The hospital campus, comprised of three separate buildings, is situated atop a below ground parking garage. The mechanical services are provided from a remote Central Utilities Plant, which adjoins the hospital via an underground tunnel. There is an Emergency/Urgent Care Facility within the Main Building, which is comprised of four Operating Rooms, two C-Section Rooms, multiple preventative Medicine Rooms and a Neo-Natal Intensive Care area. The Outpatient Services Building is a 3-story, 45,000 square foot core and shell building that adjoins the hospital via a 2-story open atrium.
The design intent is to show the patient the hospitality afforded by a 4-Star Resort. This is accomplished through mother/baby rooms and family/baby suites that have a multitude of decorative and designer finishes and lighting. All the patient room lighting is managed by means of automated controls that can be operated by the patient at the bed pillow switch or by the attending physician. The area of Neo-Natal Intensive Care or the “NICU Rooms” is provided with theatrical dimming controls that will simulate night and day to allow the infant children to become acclimatized before release from care.
Raceway systems were installed for security, nurse call, building automation, tele-data, Xray, CAT-scan and other sophisticated networks. Fire Alarm was the state-of-the art, fully addressable, NFPA approved system.
The hospital’s electrical infrastructure is designed to allow the hospital to operate without power for four days. This is accomplished by using dual paralleled 1250KW Generators that are fuel fed from a 10,000-gallon underground fuel tank. The paralleling gear utilizes a synchronized rapid transfer scheme, which allows for a return transfer to normal power with only milliseconds interruption.
The project schedule was designed around a 20-month timetable. The construction was forced to begin with only 80% construction drawings for a core and shell start and the interior drawings were not issued
until the first building was already 50% constructed. The reduced timeline was addressed by the General
Contractor and the decision was made to build the three building design vertically. This created a problem as the electrical design was structured for horizontal construction, and the building, which contained the main electrical distribution equipment, was constructed last. The accelerated construction schedule was challenged by inclement weather, large numbers of tradesmen working together in close quarters, and the equipment manufacturer’s capability to manufacture the equipment as fast as the project required. The Utility Plant was substantially complete in late July when the overall load design was changed for the mechanical equipment. This was a predicament because the feeders were already buried under the building slab and redesign involved pulling the parallel feeders into the same conduits.
Boulder Community is one of the first hospitals in the U.S. to earn the prestigious LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). This is a national green building program that is fostering the development of high performance, sustainable buildings. The criteria requires that 50% of construction waste must be salvaged or recycled. The construction site, with containers for recycling wood, metal, cardboard and concrete, achieved a landfill diversion rate of 71%. Mechanical and Electrical Designs also contributed to the point system exercised in establishing the certification. The hospital is a “healthier” building because of the construction requirements and responsible building materials conformed to from subcontractors, such as Ludvik.
At this project, as with all projects, Ludvik sees safety as a top priority that would not be compromised. Every effort was utilized to prevent accidents by timely recognition of unsafe conditions and/or practices. Through the efforts of the Corporate Safety Manager, there were site inspections and meetings so that all standards relating to safety and health matters enforced by local, state and federal authorities was in compliance. The carefully planned and supervised safety plan resulted in zero lost time injuries with 86,471 completed hours.
This project provides a sense of pride for Ludvik Electric Co. Ludvik is proud to “leed” as the Electrical Contractor on this hospital project with emphasis to health and the beauty of its natural settings.