From Survive to Thrive: Buildings that Enrich Health and Wellness
Combining the Right Materials with Powerful Design to Prevent Damage
Harnessing the power of art to protective wall coverings means taking one of the largest interior spaces and putting it to dual use. Not only does art promote patient well-being, but the protective products also keep the facility damage-free, providing the building itself with a dose of preventative medicine.
Protective wall coverings are engineered with rigid sheet wall protection to endure the toughest commercial damage. When beginning a new construction or renovation project, engaging in predictive planning will specifically identify potential causes and levels of abuse. Targeted wall protection can then be matched, based on its size, impact absorption, weight bearing, and desired aesthetic.
Predictive planning questions can focus on the following elements:
Selecting the right material. What level of impact resistance is needed? What type of material makes up the wall? Does the material need to be nonporous, or have the ability to endure frequent, stringent cleaning protocols without fading, warping, or staining?
Sheets versus rolls. Sheets allow for higher levels of impact resistance. Rolls can accommodate half-wall or wainscot applications and provide a significant reduction in seams, which gives a smoother, less interrupted finish.
Finishing touches. When deciding between a trim versus caulk finish, trim provides a more highly finished look to the installation but is more expensive to furnish and install. Caulks finish the seam only.
Adding imagery, wood grain, colors, or patterns to the protective elements.
Ensuring proper installation. Smooth and proper adhesive installation is critical. As with all wall coverings, proper surface preparation and adhesive are critical to prevent mold formation behind wall cladding.
Ensuring Specialized Performance
Frequently, specialized product assemblies that are developed and manufactured to meet highly specialized criteria are used in less than 5% of the door openings in a large hospital. The unique design characteristics of these assemblies and products can be confusing for design professionals and specification writers. Frustration and delay can ensue if products are not properly budgeted and lead times are not accurately estimated. The products are complex to develop and take many years to be introduced to the marketplace. Critically, even making "tweaks" to product performance criteria can lead to significant engineering challenges and complex new certification criteria. Architects and specifiers should rely on the decades-long experience of their preferred industry partner. The credibility of firms in this field is paramount to a successful product supply and installation.
“Working with industry professionals ranging from AIA-certified architects to manufacturers to installers in the field is sure-fire way to assure that a highly technical product designed for specific purposes meets the needs of the building owner,” says Jack Shinder, President, AMBICO.
Shielding Vital Information for Cybersecurity
Photo courtesy of AMBICO
A radio frequency assembly specified for medical imaging areas.
Radio Frequency Shielding doors are commonly found in hospital settings. Various critical care and diagnosis equipment such as ventilators, external pacemakers, and MRI and CT scanners are sensitive to radio frequency interferences, but also emit disruptive radio frequency themselves. For this reason, hospital visitors were asked to turn off their phones when inside a hospital to prevent interference. Today, both visitors and doctors can be found using phones, tablets, and computers throughout the building, thanks to effective RF shielded rooms and doors which keep radio and electro-magnetic frequency from entering or leaving a particular space.
In recent decades RFS doors have gained popularity as information containment became digital. Government or SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities) rooms with acoustic requirements now can require radio-frequency shielding features to protect from cyber eavesdropping or file corruption.
Many factors must be considered in manufacturing and installing an RFS door. Unlike most RFS products, RFS Doors are, by their very nature, more vulnerable to leaks and espionage attempts, as they are the very point of entry. This makes it especially vital that the RFS doors are specifically designed to tackle various factors simultaneously.
Performance of the RFS doors should be based on the frequency wavelength and decibels of the RFI attenuated. The radio frequency that needs to be attenuated will determine the specs of the RFS doors. The manufacturer should perform tests for the worst-case measurement to ensure the product can protect against the energy level specified (dB) across the frequency range requirement (Hz), based on the client’s performance specification.
High performance RFS doors should have the following design measures:
Ensure all cracks between the door and frame are properly sealed. The seal plays a critical role in RF shielding; the seals are typically metal or electrically conductive fabric, allowing the current to transfer between the door and frame.
Ensure frames are grounded via a cable and conductive bracket to ensure the energy transferring between the door and frame is effectively carried to the ground.
Minimize the crack size. Low-frequency waves require larger cracks to pass through. The smaller the gap, the less energy will pass through the door.
Pick the right material for use. Materials with similar conductivity allow current to flow more freely; when current flow is interrupted between the boundaries of two materials, the door can emit some energy like an antenna.
END NOTES
1Singhal, Shubham and Neha Patel. “The future of US healthcare: What’s next for the industry post-COVID-19?”. July 19, 2022. McKinsey & Company.
2Patterson ES, Sanders EB-N, Sommerich CM, Lavender SA, Li J, Evans KD. Meeting Patient Expectations During Hospitalization: A Grounded Theoretical Analysis of Patient-Centered Room Elements. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal. 2017;10(5):95-110. doi:10.1177/1937586717696700
3“Study Shows What Patients Need to Feel Comfortable During Hospital Stay.” Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Press release. May 12, 2017.
4Patterson ES, Sanders EB-N, Sommerich CM, Lavender SA, Li J, Evans KD. Meeting Patient Expectations During Hospitalization: A Grounded Theoretical Analysis of Patient-Centered Room Elements. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal. 2017;10(5):95-110. doi:10.1177/1937586717696700
5Debra Levin. “Listen Up: Controlling Noise In Healthcare Spaces”. Healthcare Design. June 7, 2022 accessed on 9/22/2022.
6Hsu, T., Ryherd, E., Waye, K. P., & Ackerman, J. (2012). “Noise pollution in hospitals: impact on patients”. JCOM, 19(7), 301-9.
7“How The Brain Is Affected By Art.” Rehabilitation Medicine. American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
8Totaforti, S. “Applying the benefits of biophilic theory to hospital design.” City Territ Archit5, 1 (2018). Retrieved May 17, 2023.
9“2022 Healthcare Crime Survey: IAHSS Foundation."
10Ibid.
11Burmahl, Beth. “Hospital designs that provide safety and security.” Health Facilities Management. June 30, 2021.
12“IEEE 299 Shielding Effectiveness.” Keystone Compliance.
13"IEEE Standard Method for Measuring the Effectiveness of Electromagnetic Shielding Enclosures," in IEEE Std 299-2006 (Revision of IEEE Std 299-1997) vol., no., pp.1-52, 28 Feb. 2007, doi: 10.1109/IEEESTD.2007.323387.
Amanda Voss, MPP, is an author, editor, and policy analyst. Writing for multiple publications, she has also served as the managing editor for Energy Design Update.