8 minute read
ON THE FRONT LINES
By / Natalie Bruckner
When the first case of COVID-19 was announced in the United States back in January, hospitals were quick to respond. While many of the 6,000-plus hospitals across the country were prepared for an outbreak, having practiced several “just-in-case” scenarios, they reached out to their partners and trusted experts to help further mitigate the spread of pathogens and bacteria. On the top of that list of experts were SMACNA contractors and SMART Locals.
It’s hardly surprising, considering the signatory sheet metal industry has built great relationships with the healthcare sector over the years; however, the public was suddenly made aware of the role that this often silent industry has in cleaning up the air in hospitals, helping to contain and prevent the spread of any virus.
“As an industry, we are the lungs of a building,” says Local 103 Business Manager John Carter. “It’s what we do. We’ve always focused on getting the cleanest and safest atmosphere possible. We are trained for that, so it didn’t surprise us that our expertise was sought when the pandemic hit.”
If anything, it was more of a surprise to the public—and even the industry’s customer base—because the spotlight was on how air-conditioning could help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“Hospitals needed data, and fast,” Carter says. “Fortunately, many of our members already had relationships with their healthcare clients, and they have been very busy.”
Over the summer, it was believed that with a highly infectious disease like COVID-19, negative ventilation was essential to keeping the air inside a room from seeping into the surrounding areas. HVAC experts were called upon to flip rooms from being positively pressurized to negatively pressurized.
However, part of SMART’s and SMACNA’s collective expertise is keeping on top of developments and ensuring the data they provide is the most up-to-date. When new evidence came to light suggesting negative pressure may not, in fact, be the best option, the industry was quick to react.
“I learned that turning a floor too negative may not be the best solution and that lower differential pressure might be better,” says Ron Landberg, Local 66 member and superintendent of TABB for MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions. “I have been attending seminars with healthcare engineers discussing how best to move forward as more information comes to light.”
Having built up a reputation as certified healthcare testing and balancing specialists prior to the pandemic, the team at SMACNA Western-Washington’s MacDonald-Miller had already banked the trust of hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. They were the obvious go-to when it came to locking down the air supply in hospital rooms and wards.
Right from the start of the pandemic, phones were ringing off the hook for SMACNA contractors, proving that reputation really is everything. Matthew Sano, Local 19 signatory contractor and president of Fisher Balancing in New Jersey, says the company had historical relationships with healthcare facilities and knowledge of the systems within these buildings. This enabled Fisher Balancing’s nine-member field team to complete the work in a frantic pandemic timeline.
SMACNA contractors and SMART Locals haven’t just been on the frontlines when it comes to helping flip hospitals, however. They have also had a front row seat on healthcare and state boards focused on pandemic solutions, providing input and helping making decisions.
As a case in point, Dave Roche, business manager at Local 40 in Connecticut, has been part of the Governor’s task force to reopen Connecticut. He was, in fact, the only labor person from any industry on the advisory council.
“It allowed me to prevent any misinformation,” Roche says. “Being able to communicate information straight from the healthcare sector to our members has been essential. While our members were already set up and unknowingly prepared, having already done the training and being familiar with these systems, being at the table allowed us to get greater insight and keep updated on changes.”
The industry’s role in helping to control the disease in hospitals has made front page news. ASHRAE has even created an epidemic task force to help address the challenges of the current pandemic as they relate to how HVAC systems affect disease transmission in public and private environments, including healthcare facilities. The data the industry is gathering will help shape the future of HVAC design in hospitals.
This is where the industry has come into its own. SMACNA member Energy Balance & Integration LLC (EB&I) in New Mexico is just one of thousands of signatory shops with experience, skills, insight, and data that has been invaluable during the pandemic.
The company has been working with five major hospitals in the state of New Mexico on testing and balancing to provide audit reports and pressure gradient setting, life safety testing, room tightness testing, duct leakage testing, and troubleshooting of systems.
“We set ourselves up in niche hospital work prior to the pandemic, so when the pandemic hit we were fully prepared to step up,” says Tony Kocurek, owner of EB&I. “It wasn’t that much of a shift, aside from the feeling of panic you get, like you are entering a burning building.”
He adds that education was key. Not so much self-education and keeping abreast of changes, but educating the customers who would approach the experts with the buzzwords, but not fully understand what they meant.
And while Landberg’s team had the experience to deal with the situation, Landberg says they are learning new lessons every day. He adds that information sharing has been essential, not just with the Local and the regional rep for service and TABB, Steve Musser, but also across the entire industry.
“We have learned a lot and we continue to review new products to back up any claims made,” Landberg says. “I partner with other contractors and collaborate to ensure we all have the correct information. Then we are comparing apples to apples. The Harborview Medical Center is the only hospital we haven’t done in our region, and I would love to meet up with those guys and share notes. Transparency is key to ensuring a successful and healthy outcome for all.”
Local 19’s Gary Masino agrees that the collaboration has set SMART and SMACNA apart during this time. “We are fortunate to have an industry that is willing to adapt, because new information is coming out every day,” he says. “I would say labor and management relations have become even stronger during the pandemic. We have always taken care of each other, but now we have proven that during challenging times those relationships come into their own.”
This willingness to adapt is compounded by the high number of innovators in the industry who jumped in to help safeguard staff and patients in hospitals. Chris Schaff, owner of SMACNA member Air Controls in Montana, came up with a new purification system that spanned the gap between the massive industrial units and the small office space units. The units have been promoted with the help of Local 103’s Carter, who Schaff credits for having supplied the company with the highly-qualified and experienced craftspeople who provided the expertise to come up with this new solution and bring it to market.
“The more we learned about how this virus spreads, the more we knew air quality was a necessity, and we began the initial examination with ways to implement improvement,” Schaff says. “The HVAC industry was already utilizing HEPA filters and ultraviolet lights to improve air quality and lower air pollution, VOCs, pet dander, and other airborne or surface contaminants. Additional exploration led us to use ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UV-C) lights in the healthcare industry. We found that UV-C lights are highly effective at inactivating the DNA of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, thus destroying their ability to multiply and spread disease.”
After intense research, Schaff and his team designed the first prototype of the TG-series air purifiers at the end of March. By mid-April, it was in full production. The TG-series air purifiers offer purification and decontamination for 200 to 5000 square feet and come in four portable and quiet models that are ideal for hospitals.
Innovations like these are being explored by SMACNA and SMART across the country. Local 19, for example, has been researching a new dehumidifier system that sprays mist that attaches itself to the virus, but as Masino says, “These are still early days and tests need to be done to back up the data.”
The success and respect that the industry has built over the years has truly shone, and the skills and training have truly come into their own during the pandemic by helping hospitals reach their goals, and fast. It may not be business as usual, but it’s also not all that different.
“It’s what our industry prides itself on, and we have been working together the entire time while our guys are in the thick of it,” Musser says. “Knowing that someone has your back is more important than ever, and I honestly believe that has set us apart from non-union members.” ▪
Natalie is an award-winning writer who has worked in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada. She has more than 23 years experience as a journalist, editor, and brand builder, specializing in construction and transportation. When she’s not writing, you will likely find her snowboarding, mountain biking, or climbing mountains with her rescue dog.
