Ferris’ HVACR team took second-place in an international student engineering competition.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) awarded Ferris’ student engineering team second place in the System Selection category of its 2010 Student Design Competition.
Team members included Nathan Cazee, Dewayne Collins, Ryan Dribble, Sarah Kelley, Nathan Toland and Ben Quist.
The team selected and engineered an entire mechanical system for the Ginsberg Tower of Florida Hospital Orlando campus. Opened in 2008, the $200 million hospital building contained 440 patient rooms, an emergency room area nearly the size of a football field and a cardiovascular institute. Approximately 15 stories, it is the tallest of all the Florida Hospital buildings.
During the competition, universities were required to examine the designs of three systems that each team decided met the requirements of the building. Teams then determined both the benefits and setbacks of each system, making application recommendations on each.
The team ultimately decided on solar absorption chillers and series three Desiccant Wheel system working with chilled beam terminal units to mitigate the high heat in the entirely glass structure with high power density throughout.
Ferris’ team put its systems against the United States Green Building Council’s LEED green building, ASHRAE standards and various local standards.
Ferris associate professor and ASHRAE advisor Mike Korcal said the student engineering team spent much time working on the hospital. He said he is very proud of the work the team has done.
“In my opinion, this has been one of the most complicated buildings the Ferris HVACR students have had to work on since first competing in the ASHRAE design and equipment selection competition,” Korcal said.
Ferris’ team will accept their second-place award at the 2011 ASHRAE Winter Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev. n