The Plateau Valley Medical Clinic in Collbran, started out as an 8,000-square-foot homestead in 1903, established as a maternity clinic for the women of the cattle ranching valley in western Colorado. By 2010, the Plateau Valley Hospital District board decided the needs of the community had outgrown the original facility and plans began for a new clinic.
March 3, 2014 - HVAC
The Plateau Valley Medical Clinic in Collbran, started out as an 8,000-square-foot homestead in 1903, established as a maternity clinic for the women of the cattle ranching valley in western Colorado. By 2010, the Plateau Valley Hospital District board decided the needs of the community had outgrown the original facility and plans began for a new clinic.
The new facility is a 6,400-square-foot, curvilinear facility for around-the-clock care, with an emergency room, five examination rooms, lobby, nurse's station and offices. A design heavy on curves was chosen for its calming effect.
For the clinic’s HVAC system, the design called for individual temperature controls in each room. The system had to be quiet and comfortable as well as super efficient to minimize energy costs. The Mitsubishi CITY MULTI Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning system was selected. The space constraints in the new clinic were very tight, and there would have been little room for a more traditional air system.
Mitsubishi Electric’s PURY R2-Series Outdoor (compressor) units were specified because of its energy performance, flexible zoning capability and ability to load share. The two-pipe heat-recovery system can simultaneously cool and heat, useful in western Colorado's climate, which is cold in the winter and hot in the summer — sometimes cold and hot on the same day.
Mitsubishi Electric’s Lossnay Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) were installed at either end of the clinic, delivering neutral air to 20 indoor cassette fan coil units.
The facility's end users have reported the VRF zoning system’s controllers are sophisticated but user-friendly. Another benefit cited for the healthcare facility is the system's quiet operation.
