A state-of-the-art medical laboratory facility requires the most stringent of environmental conditions, so when Baylor College of Medicine administrators required HVAC equipment for its new eight-story, 122,000-square-foot Alkek Building for Biomedical Research (ABBR), they turned to HTS Texas.
To meet these precise atmospheric constraints, HTS Texas provided eight custom Haakon Air-Handling Units (AHUs) totaling 300,000 cubic-feet-per-minute (CFM) of airflow. The specifically tailored units contained sound attenuation and humidity controls, cooling and heating coils and standard and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, providing the most effective HVAC performance on the market.
The facility, which was built using a more than $31 million gift – the largest single private philanthropic commitment in the college’s history – from The Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation, houses laboratory and office space for Baylor College of Medicine researchers and administrators. Architect Lord, Aeck & Sargent, Inc. designed the building to enhance collaboration between the cardiovascular sciences, diabetes, cancer, pharmacogenomics, imaging, informatics and proteomics programs.
“We were proud to provide essential heating and cooling systems for this vital new addition to the Texas Medical Center,” said Mike Donovan. “Building on HTS Texas’ long-standing history with Baylor College of Medicine, we are confident that these new AHUs will meet the college’s laboratory requirements and reduce energy costs for years to come.”
In addition to Lord, Aeck & Sargent, HTS Texas worked closely with General Contractor Vaughn Construction, MEP Engineer BR+A Massachusetts and Mechanical Contractor MLN Company to provide custom engineered solutions for this new high-tech facility.