Linear Accelerator/CT Scanner

BKM provided MEP design services for the fitting out of an existing 2,000-square-foot suite located in the basement of the Weinberg Building at Mercy Medical Center.

The original building was constructed with a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) suite located in the basement and the rough-in for an additional LINAC suite in the future. The future LINAC space was roughed in with cooling water and air piping installed below the existing concrete slab and terminated in a pit below the basement slab in the future treatment room and extended up to the sixth-floor mechanical room, where it could be connected to the existing LINAC cooling system.

Upon evaluation of the capacity of the existing LINAC cooling system, it was determined that due to the environmental requirements of the new LINAC, there was not enough spare capacity in the existing cooling system without a major revision to the existing LINAC cooling system. In order to eliminate downtime to the existing LINAC suite and modifying the existing LINAC cooling system, it was determined that a new LINAC cooling system would be provided in the sixth-floor mechanical room and connected to the capped chilled water piping in the mechanical room. The new LINAC cooling system included redundant pumps and a domestic water backup system for emergency situations and allows both LINAC Suites to be cooled by independent cooling systems. The existing heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and plumbing fixtures in the treatment room were removed to allow for additional shielding at the underside of the structure and additional shielding at the west wall of the treatment room. The automatic temperature control system was extended and connected to the campus energy management control system.

Careful coordination with Mercy Medical Center’s physicists to orchestrate the HVAC system installation with the new radiation shielding system and the existing infrastructure was a key to the success of the project. All conduits, ducts and piping entering the treatment were gathered to be routed through a shielded enclosure.