AIR CONDITIONING IN HOSPITALS. In many cases the air conditioning in hospitals is a factor in the treatment of patients with heart disease, thyroid, respiratory, burns and AIDS. Precisely because of the extreme care that are under them, is that these air conditioning systems are special and quite different from commercial applications, because they need (a) particular conduct air flow, pressure control and restriction of this to area to avoid contamination, (2) requirements and external air filter to remove odors, dangerous chemicals, radioactive or prevent the proliferation of viruses and microorganisms, (3) control of various zonal temperature and humidity (4) a sophisticated automatic control system to regulate the functioning of zonal systems. The outputs of air expelled by the exhaust system shall be at least 9 m away from any fresh air intake, windows and doorways of people, at a height of 1 m above the roof of the building, taking into account the direction of prevailing winds. Outdoor air intakes must be at least 9 meters of any vent combustion, mining, cooling towers, ornamental fountains, and medical vacuum systems. Height not less than 1.8 m above the main level.
The air conditioning system of hospitals must be zoned by activity or department, so this specialty must be closely related to architecture, to design a project. The main areas and therefore areas which will supply systems, return or separate air extraction are: Surgery, Patient Care, Pathology, Laboratories Administration, Treatment and diagnosis, Sterilisation and Services. No area hospital Theatre requires a more careful control of environmental conditions and hygiene. While a theater can be considered a “Clean Room” (Clean Room) in many aspects of their design, will not have a classification as such, their level of cleanliness as this type of application, prima limit the amount of bacteria, viruses or microorganisms, rather than quantity of particles. It should be noted, that respects the constructive recommendations of work, cycles of disinfection and personal behavior, to achieve truly clean and air quality proposed in. The area should be designed as an “island”, so that no windows to the outside. Outside air will be 100% in the operating room and all local surrounding area outside the surgery to dilute the anesthetic gases and limit the risk of explosion. If deemed necessary, they shall provide a separate exhaust system in each operating room to remove the concentration of anesthetic gases to complete the operation.
The vacuum system will remove the non-flammable gases. The prefilters to extend the life of the terminal filters will be housed in each air handling unit. The terminal air filters at the local drive Theatre will be HEPA (absolute), with 99.97% DOP efficiency TEST (EU12). They will be housed in boxes of media, epoxy-finished and well-sealed ceiling. The change of lights and filters (as differential pressure warning), will take place from inside the place, without opening the ceiling.
