El Camino Hospital

Project Background

El Camino Hospital includes two nonprofit acute care hospitals in Los Gatos and Mountain View and multiple urgent care, multi-specialty care and primary care locations across Santa Clara County, California. Opened in 1961, its Mountain View Main Campus covers 41 acres with 443 beds and 1,459 physicians. El Camino Hospital serves residents in Silicon Valley, as well as people in surrounding communities. The key specialties include heart and vascular, cancer and lifestyle medicine.

The hospital has earned numerous awards for clinical excellence and nursing care, such as a 5-Star Overall Hospital Quality Rating from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and three consecutive American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognitions for Nursing Care. U.S. News ranked the hospital as the No.25 out of 428 hospitals for Best Hospitals in California.

System Background

As part of the expansion project, El Camino Hospital installed two BROAD two-stage steam absorption chillers in 2017 to fully utilize the existing boiler’s capacity and reduce the energy costs. The absorption chillers operate 24/7, and three electric chillers are on site for cooling supplement and future expansion.

Project Value

BROAD won the bid as the only absorption chiller manufacturer in this project that has the Special Seismic Certification Pre-Approval (OSP) from California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). OSHPD OSP is a prerequisite for the equipment installed in California healthcare facilities, meaning the equipment is able to maintain the structural integrity and functionality in a seismic event.

BROAD chillers have passed the test at both seismic loads of 2.0g and 3.2g in the UC Berkley PEER center. A seismic load test of 3.2g is the highest level in the world and so far BROAD is the first and the only chiller manufacturer who has successfully passed the seismic test at this level and obtained the seismic certification, which is representing the top level of “Made in China” .

The added BROAD chillers met most of the hospital’s cooling requirements, meanwhile improved the existing boilers’ efficiency and reduced emissions by running them at full load consistently. Annual electricity saving: over 2,900MWh, save electricity costs nearly 350,000 USD.

BROAD Chiller Pass the Seismic Test at UC Berkeley

About OSHPD Seismic Certification

California is in earthquake-prone zone, to ensure the local hospitals could remain operable after a seismic event, California OSHPD requires the critical equipment in healthcare facilities must pass stringent seismic testing and certification.

In the regulations, each manufacturer’s specified model family has to have a minimum of two shake table tests for seismic capacity, meet the requirements of ICC-ES AC-156 and be certified by independent third party structural engineers. Also, it must be reviewed by the OSHPD office and issued an OSHPD OSP number.

The results required by the testing:
1. Structural Integrity of components, supports, and attachments shall be maintained.
2. Functionality of components shall be maintained equivalent to pre-shake table test functionality test. Seismic compliance is no longer only for earthquake-prone zones or only for buildings and structures today. More and more local building codes require HVAC equipment to be certified to minimize the risks brought from earthquakes.