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Texas A&M Health Science Center – Technology Infrastructure Case Study
By: John Jankowski,RCDD,president and founder of JanCom Technologies, Inc.
Austin, Texas
The Project
Leading organizations need seamless technology solutions. To integrate required
technology efficiently, what goes behind sheetrock and under the ground that is
often as critical as the hardware. The Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC)
recognized how essential integrating a world-class technology infrastructure was
to its mission. A community-based medical school providing third and fourth year
clinical training at regional campuses around the state through affiliations
with local physicians, clinics and hospitals, TAMHSC had extraordinary
technology requirements – from supporting essential IT functions, to
sophisticated medical equipment and patient simulation systems. With the task of
providing the most state-of-the-art, advanced facilities for training tomorrow’s
doctors, the architecture, construction and technology infrastructure team faced
a unique set of requirements.
The center was designed as the 164,000 square-foot anchor building within a
master plan slated to support several future buildings. The TAMHSC Round Rock
project was part of a strategic plan to increase the capacity of the
institutions training program.
 Team
and Philosophy
Every successful project starts with a strong design and construction team. Due
to the complexities inherent in this project, JanCom Technologies, Inc. was
selected by the architect very early in the design process to develop the
information technology and audio-visual strategy and physical infrastructure for
the project. To kick the project off, the entire team worked together to
evaluate the specific requirements and limitations. A series of questions were
posed to the Owner to begin establishing the desired functionality for the IT
systems and technology infrastructure. As in all projects, there are numerous
options and therefore just as many decisions that must be made by both the
design team and the Owner. Experience has proven that there is a direct
relationship between the cost of decisions and the project timeline. Decisions
made early have a very manageable impact on budgets and schedules. Decisions
made late in the project can be exponentially more expensive and lead to
undesirable and unnecessary compromises. This is especially true with IT systems
that are typically thought to be “behind the walls”, but have a significant
effect on space planning, electrical and mechanical systems, millwork, and even
furniture selections.
 There
are numerous reasons the infrastructure required to support technology systems
must be factored in early on in the design process. Technology equipment rooms,
server rooms and audio-visual equipment require adequate space, useable geometry
and, in cases where growth is needed beyond the initial space, accommodations
must be made for flexible spaces that can grow into adjacent spaces.
This particular design team, from the owner to the general contractor, was
proactive in identifying and coordinating all aspects of technology within the
project prior to the commencement of construction. Weekly meetings that included
the entire team were held throughout the design process to facilitate rapid
decision-making and complete coordination of related trades and systems.
The Team:
Texas A&M Health Science Center – Owner and End User
Waterstone Development - Developer
Graeber, Simmons, and Cowan – Architect
HMG & Associates – Consulting Engineers – MEP Design
Waeltz & Prete, Inc. - Civil Engineers
Chasco Construction – General Contractor and Pre-Construction Services
Campus Telecommunications Infrastructure
Regulated telecommunications service entrances and demarcation points were
located with a secured space centrally located on the ground-level of the
building. This location was identified during early space planning, resulting in
the ability to integrate the technology infrastructure into the core of the
building. The building entrance provided space for multiple telecommunications
service providers, ample incoming conduits for future services, access to the
campus’ distribution duct bank system, and dedicated pathways to other
technology spaces within the building. The final design of the building, with
its technology infrastructure built-in, also provides very simple and
inexpensive extension of telecommunications and network services to future
buildings.
The long term development and costs of providing continuous services to the
facility was critical. Unexpected external factors dictated the placement of
telecommunications manholes at the perimeter of the property. Informed by the
civil engineers that the fronting road was planned to be re-aligned in the
future, the typical placement of the manholes would have been disastrous and
required costly reconstruction in the future.
Buried utilities serving the building and future development, such as electrical
distribution, chilled water supply and return from the remote central plant,
public water supply, sewer and storm water drainage, competed for very limited
underground space. Each of these systems require physical access, dedicated
manholes, differing depths and drainage slopes, all within a designated
corridor. Careful coordination at the initiation of the project enabled the
design and construction team to carefully coordinate all systems prior to
breaking ground. As one can imagine, lack of early and total collaboration could
have easily resulted in significant and costly rework.
Building Spaces and Pathways
IT services for the building, and ultimately the campus, originate within a
central server room of approximately 800 square feet to house up to 18 equipment
cabinets. The design team worked together to provide space for server and
network equipment cabinets, a redundant UPS system, and three 15 ton computer
room air conditioners. Two computer room air conditioners were installed
initially to provide redundancy at an initial equipment load -- with the space
and piping for a third future air conditioner to accommodate long term
requirements. The building diesel generator was sized to support critical
building loads and the server room. To eliminate space loss due to Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) required ramps, the team opted not to specify a
raised floor. Instead, air conditioning supply and return air were contained
within the ceiling space and network cabling and power distribution was
accommodated with an exposed overhead cable tray system.
 Due
to the variety of installation environments, as well as limited accessibility,
network backbone cabling pathways were designed to be conduit, rather than cable
tray. Conduit pathways, regardless of the installation environment, allow lower
cost general purpose cable constructions rather than costlier plenum rated
cables. Also, as needs increase, additional backbone cables can be added into
spare conduit without requiring the removal of ceiling tiles, scheduling after
hours work, and experiencing the typical disruption of activities throughout the
space while this work is performed. Textile-based inner duct was provided within
each conduit to further facilitate the addition of future cabling.
Special Audiovisual Systems
Primarily a teaching facility, the TAMHSC project contained small and large
group classrooms, meeting rooms and numerous simulation environments for
training. As a result, the audio-visual requirements are significant. The design
team’s role was to understand the owners’ vision and integrate the supporting
infrastructure into the design. Each room required specific elements and the
in-depth coordination of several design disciplines. Projectors and flat panel
monitors required special mounting brackets and structural supports within the
ceilings and walls. Planned early, these items were relatively inexpensive. Had
these items not been included in the construction documents, ceiling systems and
wall finishes may have required expensive rework when the owner installed
equipment upon move in.
The TAMHSC patient simulation center placed unique demands upon the technology
infrastructure. Interactive closed circuit video with audio observation,
recording and production systems all required dedicated cabling pathways within
the walls, head walls, ceilings and floors. The result was seamless integration
of intelligent training mannequins directed from a master control room to
provide real life medical training scenarios and experiences for the end users.
 A
theater style lecture hall was planned for 235 participants. Wireless network
access, a common solution in this type of environment, would have required
numerous access points in order to provide adequate bandwidth to each user.
Challenged by only partially accessible space below the theatre style floor
system, the design team once again coordinated cabling pathways with the floor
slab, crawl space, and furniture systems to provide a high bandwidth wired
network connection to each seat.
The locations of cameras, video displays, speakers and control systems are
critical to the function of a complex auditorium and simulation centers. Since a
successful audio-visual system relies upon several associated systems, such as
structural support, power and lighting, each was carefully planned and
documented.
With a range of leading-edge clinical simulation, audio-visual and other
requirements, the demand level for network bandwidth was expected to be high.
The TAMHSC facility is cabled to support 10gigabit/second network traffic at
each end-user workstation. State-of-the-art Augmented Category 6 cable was
selected and specified to keep up with anticipated usage levels.
Conclusion
Health care relies more and more on technology to provide the services required
by society. Health care training facilities must provide real life tools and
experiences to the health care practitioners of tomorrow. Technology within the
TAMHSC is crucial to completing its teaching and health care mission. The
objective of the project was to provide a technology infrastructure that is
seamlessly integrated into the building’s design and supports the mission of the
facility – and to provide a finished product that allowed the center’s staff to
move in to a facility that did not require costly secondary construction to
support future IT or audio-visual systems. Planning for the infrastructure
required to support technology resulted in a building, and future campus, that
is equipped to support technology now, in the future, and to do it within
budget.
Ensuring technology not only functions, but does so at an optimal level is a
high-stakes game leading organizations like the TAMHSC need to compete with
other similar institutions. This demand is not going away. Designers and
contractors need to ensure they see the infrastructure supporting their client’s
technology as a part of the entire project.
Said Nancy W. Dickey, M.D., president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and
vice chancellor for health affairs for the A&M System, “From vision to reality,
this project demonstrates a remarkable energy and an innovative use of
collaboration because none of this would be possible without the support of our
many partners…”
About the Author
John Jankowski,RCDD, president and founder of JanCom Technologies, Inc.
Austin, Texas With over 24 years in the telecommunications and technology design
profession, John Jankowski, RCDD, has contributed to the success of numerous
projects requiring the design of technology infrastructure, high performance
data centers, facility cabling systems, and technology systems implementation
within mission critical facilities. His expertise includes design and
implementation of building cabling systems, outside plant telecommunications,
network architecture, and high performance data center design. For more
information on John or JanCom Technologies please visit
www.jancom.com
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