Detection Logic, a UTC Fire & Security Company of Phoenix, Arizona, rose to the challenge to win the design and installation of the fire system job for the massive expansion and renovation of Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
| Part One of a two-part series: The Bidding Process — The fire and life safety contractor tapped for expansion and renovation at Phoenix Children’s Hospital tells of the planning that went into winning the bid and making initial plans. Part II, coming later this year, will cover design and installation process details of the project. |
Founded 26 years ago, Phoenix Children’s Hospital is one of the 10 largest children’s hospitals in the nation. The hospital currently covers over 40 pediatric specialties and provides health care to some of the sickest children in Arizona.
In order to meet the pediatric bed needs and health services requirements of a rapidly expanding metro Phoenix population base, the hospital began a $588 million expansion and renovation of its facilities in 2008. A main goal of this build-out will be to increase licensed beds from the current 345 to 626 by 2012.
Amongst other additions and renovations, the campus will feature a new 685,000 square foot, 11-story patient tower, three new parking structures adding about 1,750 parking spaces, a covered playground for patients and their siblings, and an 18-unit Ronald McDonald House to provide housing for patients’ families. In addition, the entire build-out will be supported by a new 30,000-squarefoot, two-level central energy plant and logistics building.
Once all renovations are completed, Phoenix Children’s Hospital will be the largest freestanding children’s hospital in the nation.
Providing a fire protection system for such a large project will be a complicated and difficult task. The project requires installing the latest, most advanced fire protection technology available for the renovated and new structures, such as the patient tower, and integrating this new technology with the hospital’s legacy systems in order to create a single, cohesive system that provides the highest level of fire protection possible.
Appropriately, the process for choosing the fire system contractor was very demanding. As Tim Snow, general manager of Detection Logic Arizona, put it, “To win this job, the contractor would have to provide the right credentials, the right product offering, and the ability to support the system in the future.”
The Right Credentials
The first stage of the process began in March 2008 with the fire alarm Request for Qualifications (RFQ) sent out to several vendors representing each of the three fire system manufacturers approved for the project. The RFQ included a general overview of the project and a proposed project schedule.
Key information requested in the RFQ included company size, engineering/staff qualifications, completed hospital or similar projects, and project backlog through the proposed Phoenix Children’s Hospital project schedule. Based on the information they provided in vendor responses to the RFQ, the project management team winnowed the candidate list down to three vendors, each representing one of the approved manufacturers. Mainly due to its engineering qualifications and expertise and its ability to demonstrate several successful installations of fire systems in large hospitals, the team chose Detection Logic as the vendor to represent NOTIFIER®, an approved manufacturer.
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Project Phoenix Children’s Hospital Expansion and Renovation Phoenix, Ariz. www.phoenixchildrens.com Scope Three Parking Structures Renovation of Existing Structures Tower Building • Ambulatory Services Complex and Hospital Diagnostic/Treatment • Patient Tower |
The Right Products
Even for Detection Logic, which has extensive experience in installing fire systems for large applications, winning the project came down to several other factors — most significantly its system design proposal. The winning submittal had to demonstrate that the design and product selection could best meet all the challenging technology and performance requirements of Phoenix Children’s Hospital while keeping system, installation, and ongoing operational costs down.
For example, the existing fire system for Phoenix Children’s Hospital is based on Edwards Systems Technology (EST) products. As a NOTIFIER vendor, Detection Logic would be required to integrate any proposed NOTIFIER technology with the existing EST-based fire system.
To integrate the legacy EST and new NOTIFIER systems, Detection Logic proposed connecting each panel through an Echelon® fiber optic network to an ONYXWorks™ workstation from NOTIFIER in a UL-864-listed configuration.
“The ONYXWorks Monitoring and Integration System is the only system available capable of integrating all of Phoenix Children’s Hospital legacy and proposed systems,” said Fred Lovato, engineering manager at Detection Logic. For Phoenix Children’s Hospital, these systems could include fire alarm systems, security systems, card access systems, CCTV systems, central station receivers for outlying buildings with no connectivity, and any systems with dry contacts that must be monitored.
Along with the Echelon backbone with ONYXWorks, the proposal included NOTIFIER network panels and detection and notification devices from System Sensor, including intelligent photoelectric smoke detectors, SpectrAlert® Advance chimes and strobes, and speakers and speaker strobes for voice evacuation. “With their ability to communicate clear, intelligible messages that meet the updated NFPA intelligibility requirements, SpectrAlert Advance speakers and speaker strobes are our device of choice for voice evacuation systems designed to protect patients and children,” said Lovato.
All proposed products were also selected for their ability to be quickly and easily installed and maintained. All SpectrAlert Advance products provide plug-in designs with universal mounting plates to speed and simplify installation. For example, the design called for over 1,200 speaker strobes. As the only speakers and speaker strobes available that provide plug-in designs, the SpectrAlert Advance devices not only speed and simplify installation across large projects, but also reduce labor and material costs associated with ground faults caused by pinched or crushed wires.
The Right Support
In addition to the system design proposal, Detection Logic provided Phoenix Children’s Hospital with information on how they would support the system.
Snow said, “No matter how good the installation of the system, the overall effectiveness is dependent upon the knowledge passed on to the end user.” Maintaining high-performing, cost-effective day-to-day operations of the system would be dependent on Phoenix Children’s Hospital personnel.
Consequently, Detection Logic proposed a range of approaches to enable Phoenix Children’s Hospital to operate and maintain the system effectively, including providing constant training throughout the installation of the system, labeling devices based on Phoenix Children’s Hospital input, and designing a user-friendly system interface.
In addition, Detection Logic has a fully staffed customer service department to provide ongoing support after completion of the installation, including 24/7 emergency service response, Web-based inspections and service reports, prescheduled inspections, and ongoing end-user training. These and other services will help Phoenix Children’s Hospital keep its fire system performing optimally, manage costs, and provide the highest level of protection available for patients and staff.
The Winning Bid
Ultimately, Detection Logic won the project by clearly communicating how the company and the proposed system could meet all the needs of Phoenix Children’s Hospital. As Terry Manning of Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc., the consulting engineer over the entire project, reported, “…the fire alarm system…has been reviewed and accepted without comments. It is one of the best packages I have seen in a long time.”
Tags: A/V Notification, Smoke detection
Posted in Audible/Visible Notification, Cover Features, Healthcare, Intelligent Detection, Spring 2010
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