Theris Flex Valves Solve Efficiency Challenge

The UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville ranks as one of the nation’s best according to U.S. News & World Report. The most comprehensive academic healthcare center in the Southeast, nearly 900 UF College of Medicine and community physicians and 9,000 skilled nursing and support staff provide comprehensive patient care.

From primary care and family medicine to subspeciality services for patients with highly complex medical conditions, Shands Hospital continues to earn high performance marks in varied specialties, and the hospital’s affiliation with the UF Health Science Center allows patients to benefit from the latest medical knowledge and technology.

The Airflow Management Situation
As part of an on-going building assessment process, the facility management team evaluated patient rooms to better ensure accurate and responsive airflow controls. As a result, upgrading problematic Variable Air Volume (VAV) boxes throughout patient rooms emerged as a top priority.

While VAV boxes work well when precise airflow is not essential, the facility management team was looking for regulated, accurate and efficient controls. As explained by Mark Dykes, Energy Director, UF Health Shands Hospital, the patient rooms were accumulating high air volume and increasing energy usage due to inaccurate airflow measurements. To continue delivering patients and staff with air quality up to the hospital’s standard of excellence without over-ventilating, heating, or cooling, it was essential to address these concerns.

The Airflow Management Solution
With a history of project data in support of alternatives to the VAV box, Dykes saw an opportunity to replicate the advanced valve system common in operating rooms (ORs) in the hospital’s patient rooms. These cost-effective, high-performing systems rely on venturi valves, which offer more precise, energy-efficient airflow control. Venturi valves are hourglass-shaped cylinders with an internal cone assembly on a spring mount. This mechanical pressure independence allows the valves to respond immediately to pressure changes without needing to get measurements, unlike VAV boxes that must measure pressure, send a signal to the BAS, and wait for a return signal.

The venturi valve’s responsive technology allows it to accurately regulate and maintain airflow consistently to improve the safety of staff and patients.

“We knew venturi technology in patient rooms would benefit our operational costs and optimize energy usage throughout the entire hospital,” says Dykes. “But there was not a cost-effective product on the market that made sense for less critical spaces like patient rooms.”

Enter Phoenix Controls
Dykes was already familiar with Phoenix Controls as a designer and manufacturer of precision airflow control systems, so he and the facility management team engaged Phoenix Controls to create a custom, integrated, patient room operating on venturi valve principles.

The resulting system employs the Theris Flex Venturi Valve and “maintains the integrity of 19 patient rooms with dependability and repeatability,” says Dykes. In fact, by integrating venturi technology, the new valves maintain +/- 10% airflow accuracy with higher turndown ratios than traditional VAV boxes – up to 10:1 versus 3:1, results that simply can’t be matched by VAV boxes requiring flow measurement, and often requiring several different sizes. This allows the system designers to achieve the hospital’s goals with fewer boxes. And it provides maximum system flexibility in the face of constantly shifting requirements.

“While many of the components of the Phoenix Controls Theris Flex valve are the same as the venturi valve, its design is Theris Flex-engineered to meet the demands of non-critical spaces, all with a cost-competitive benefit,” says David Rausch, Critical Environment Specialist for Healthcare & Lab Spaces at Phoenix Controls. “With its platform-neutral flexibility, the valve sets hospitals up to meet the demands of today and tomorrow. It works with third-party controllers for a quick off-the-ground install and can immediately adapt to negative pressure needs in patient rooms.”

To ensure healthier air for patients and staff, the system actively adjusts to pressure changes, room temperature, and occupancy modes, regulating and correcting as necessary. Phoenix Controls Theris Flex valves can also perform to meet the ever-growing needs for isolation in spaces requiring negative pressure to support pandemic transitions.

“The ability to have such a high-performing system in a cost-competitive manner is revolutionary.” Says Dykes.

The Result
Phoenix Controls Theris Flex valves have been operating in 19 hospital rooms with the hospital’s existing building management system since the beginning of 2021. According to Dykes, “Venturi technology has allowed us to find the same OR and ICU operational, energy and cost efficiencies in patient rooms.” The system has also been tested successfully in endoscopy and bronchoscopy suites.

Since becoming operational, Dyke’s data from the venturi system is showing that upgrading airflow technology can pay substantial energy dividends. Because the advanced system can accurately measure airflow over a wider range, UF Health Shands Hospital is conserving energy in both positive, negative and switchable pressure environments. The hospital is saving costs on energy consumption with lower air volume, without compromising room pressurization needs. Doubling up on energy efficiency, the facility management team can simply turn the system off if the room is not occupied.

UF Health Shands Hospital maintains at least 90 percent capacity, leaving little time for maintenance teams to fix systems if issues arise. But unlike VAV boxes, Theris Flex valves don’t rely on airflow sensors that can become clogged, all but eliminating the cost and onsite labor of regular cleaning and maintenance. Their simplicity of design and lack of dependence on an actuator provides the robust endurance to keep them maintenance-free.

The new valves were factory-calibrated at Phoenix Controls before installation giving Dykes and team the opportunity to use the valves as a plug and play solution throughout the hospital.

“Testing and balancing is nearly nonexistent with this system, and the ability to use any controller is huge – especially as we look to bring the system to other areas,” said Dykes. The facility management team is looking to employ the Phoenix Controls Theris Flex Valve in additional spaces such as hallways, offices and other hospitals within the UF healthcare system.