University of Maryland Shock Trauma Tower

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) in Baltimore has a large campus with several buildings that serve a variety of patient needs, from cancer treatment to pediatric medicine. Administrators planned to add a Shock Trauma Center to provide specialized care for patients who are critically injured or ill, the first integrated trauma center in the nation, to be named after Dr. R. Adams Cowley, the physician who created the concept of the Golden Hour in trauma care. The Shock Trauma Tower could not accommodate rooftop chillers due to its heliport, so the facilities staff sought to expand the capabilities of the campus’s existing central plants in order to provide energy efficient cooling, heating and domestic hot water to the Shock Trauma Tower and other buildings on the hydronic loop.

Project Solution

Facilities staff at the University of Maryland Medical Center selected three Carrier AquaEdge® 23XRV chillers and one AquaForce® 30XW heat recovery chiller to increase the cooling and heating capacity of their existing physical plant. The new chillers provide cooling, heating and domestic hot water to the Dr. R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Critical Care Tower and other buildings on the hydronic loop. The facilities staff — familiar with Carrier quality because of the AquaEdge 19XR chillers already in service at UMMC — selected the AquaEdge chillers and AquaForce® chiller for their energy efficient performance and heat recovery capabilities, and because they can deliver water chilled to a range of temperatures, a requirement when serving multiple structures of different ages and heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) designs. Thanks in part to its innovative HVAC solution, the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Tower achieved LEED* (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.