The healthcare industry is currently experiencing rapid change. The first of the baby-boomers has reached maturity with active life styles they would like to maintain for another decade or two. Quickly evolving technology has created advances in medical diagnostics and treatment that are high in demand. The cost to implement much of this technology is significant. However, the cost of not investing in the new technology can result in lost market share for healthcare providers. Cost containment is a serious concern in the healthcare industry.
Competition among healthcare institutions is intense. The goal to balance providing indigent care for those in need, with care for insured patients is a challenge, especially for inner-city institutions. For healthcare institutions to compete and thrive, they must invest in human resources to attract highly qualified caregivers, reach out to respond to their communities needs and wishes, and recognize the importance of family and friends in the care and healing process. It is also worth noting the built environment in which the healthcare services are provided is an integral part of the equation.
Invest in Human Resources
There is a tremendous opportunity for community colleges and universities to provide education and training for technicians needed in medicine-related fields. Schools of medicine in the Southeast Michigan region are expanding and opening satellite facilities in growing communities. Healthcare institutions must attract, train (we are life-long learners) and retain high quality and loyal employees. A high level of caregiver training and satisfaction will translate to a high quality of patient and family care. A positive and successful healthcare experience will reduce the level of “white coat anxiety”. It is important to remember the patients’ families are also customers. Repeat business and referrals from satisfied customers are the best way to maintain or expand any business.
Community Outreach
Many healthcare institutions are planning for community ambulatory care centers as a way of reaching their customer base and expanding their market share. The vision for the new ambulatory care centers is not just a medical office building or outpatient surgery center. The new ambulatory care centers will provide the expected clinical diagnostic and treatment services, and will also include facilities and services to promote a holistic, mind and body, healthy lifestyle. Facilities and services that may be provided at an ambulatory care center include:
- Indoor and outdoor family and employee fitness center
- Healthy lifestyle education
- Nutritious food cafes
- Healthy food preparation and cooking classes
- Med Spas and other stress management and relief
The ambulatory care centers will become community destination points rather than just places to receive traditional healthcare. Their environments will take on more of hospitality flair than a traditional clinical feel.
Focus on Family Involvement – “The family that stays healthy together…”
The importance of the involvement of family and friends in the care and healing process is evident. New hospitals are being designed with larger single patient rooms with space to accommodate extended visits by family and friends. Many rooms also have furniture that is flexible and can be converted to family sleeping for overnight visits. Family health clinics are being designed to include a few larger “kid-friendly” exam rooms. The room environments are less clinical and can accommodate the sick child, their parents and siblings. With our aging population and increasingly diverse culture, extended multi-generational families become involved when a member requires healthcare.
The Built Environment
A well-designed healthcare facility will be responsive to the needs of its customers, and enhance the brand identity of the healthcare provider. Design and planning decisions are based on a variety of information sources including research results and evaluations of other functioning facilities. Known as evidence based design, this process will continue to influence the planning and architecture of healthcare facilities. The results of research, and understanding cause and effect, changes how we think about healthcare facility functions.
The built environment for the healthcare facility includes the site and landscape design, building architecture and the interior environment. The interior environment is more than colors and materials. It reflects an understanding of how the staff and patients (the customers) will use the facility. The success of the interior environment is dependent on how spaces are planned, and the 3-dimensional articulation of spaces, lighting, and human comfort through temperature and humidity control. The customers of the healthcare facility are the staff, the patients, their families and friends, and the community. A facility that interactively involves their customers in the design process will result in an environment where the caregivers have a sense of ownership and personal satisfaction. Service to the patient will be done more efficiently, with fewer errors and with a higher level of satisfaction for the patients.
Contact French Associates today to become your healthcare architect! (248) 656.1377.
The design and construction of a school facility takes dozens of experts. The specialist for each "part" of the project is critical to the creation of the finished "whole". From architects and engineers to contractors and skilled laborers, having experts on your team that are well versed in the unique characteristics inherent in educational facility design will help your project run smoothly.
With over four decades of experience in educational architecture, the French Associates team has experienced most situations, but as technology and building products evolves daily, we are equipped to tackle each new challenge. Often times challenges need the involvement of experts in the construction industry. In times like these we turn to our relationships with contractors, construction mangers and tradespersons. These established relationships are beneficial both ways and run deep enough that in 2006 French Associates, Inc. was bestowed with the National Associate of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Detroit Chapter "Lifetime Achievement Award: Longevity with Integrity".
Together, architects AND the construction industry are partners that make school facility projects successful. Visit the link below to see just one example of a successful partnership in the September 2011 issue of CAM Magazine:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/cd26ad6f#/cd26ad6f/31
New, sustainable building products are being touted everywhere you look. Dale Jerome, president of French Associates reminds us to reacquaint ourselves with some of the products of our past. Visit the link below to see more of what he suggests in the August 2011 issue of CAM Magazine:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/f019b66b#/f019b66b/25
French Associates attended the recent ground breaking ceremony held in Shelby Township for the new Police building that French Associates designed. See the link for an article from C and G news.com http://www.candgnews.com/news/ground-broken-long-awaited-police-building.
The new building is one story with Detective, Narcotics, Administrative offices, locker rooms, holding facilities, Squad room and a 911 Dispatch Center. It will be a 17,500 square foot new building which will be located on the municipal campus in Shelby Township.
Currently the police station is located in about 8,000 square feet in the lower level of the existing township hall. The new building will provide more adequate space for all of the department staff including a records and evidence storage area. The existing records staff work amongst multiple file cabinets with plastic bins stacked on top of the cabinets. The bins are necessary to house the additional files due to running out of space in the small storage closet. This existing 8,000 square feet of space in the existing township hall will be converted into training and exercise rooms for the police department and township staff. There will also be a large group meeting room for township and public use. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2011.
Call us today about designing your new Police Station (248) 656.1377.
Police Department Architectural Design 101
Whether planning a new police/sheriff station or updating an existing one, the first decisions to be made involve developing effective solutions for handling prisoners. This question is typically answered during building and site circulation programming. Whether the facility is a headquarters or sub-station, the critical nature of circulation patterns impacts the entire program.
Prisoner Transfer
The Sally Port, a drive-through or back-in style garage, should allow a safe and expeditious transfer of individuals from a police vehicle to a holding cell. The transfer and observation of prisoners affects the entire building, indicating a critical relationship between the holding cells and Sally Port. Some departments utilize only electronic monitoring systems, so the holding areas can be located anywhere near or adjacent to the sally port. If sworn or civilian staff members monitor prisoners, the placement of these two areas becomes much more important.
In the case of the Grand Blanc Police Headquarters, dispatchers are assigned to monitor prisoners while also acting as receptionist and records keeper. The dispatcher had to be located in plain view of the holding cells as well as the front door. However, the township requested that holding areas not be readily visible to visitors standing at the reception counter. Working closely with staff at Grand Blanc allowed us great success in achieving these specific goals.
The Apparatus Bay. It’s typically the largest single component of any Fire Station. It’s typically the focal point of any Fire Station. Despite these facts, the Apparatus Bay often times doesn’t get its fair share of planning and discussion prior to being constructed. Why? Maybe the basic concept of a high bay, drive-thru garage is pretty simple. Or maybe the focus is more on the equipment and less on the people. Whatever the reasons, a carefully planned Apparatus Bay is the key to any successful Fire Station design. It’s ability to accommodate equipment and people and it’s tie-in with the other components of a Station will make or break the design solution. The following outline can be used as a basic guide to the architectural design considerations for an Apparatus Bay.
Fire Apparatus
Make a list of the number and size of vehicles the Apparatus Bay is being designed for, including future plans. Differences in community needs, standards and even terminology make it necessary to really understand the different vehicles (engines, ambulances, ladder trucks, heavy rescue) being planned for. Include staffing levels, crew assignments and use descriptions as part of the vehicle list. The most frequently used vehicles should generally be placed closest to the living quarters.
The actual planning for an Apparatus Bay should include many other items that are not listed but this outline can be used as a starting point in the planning of an Apparatus Bay and a Fire Station. Careful planning is the key to any successful Fire Station design and although an Apparatus Bay can be better than the rest of a Fire Station, a Fire Station can never be better than its Apparatus Bay.
Tip Five: Brought to you by French Associates, Architects. Know where your school district is headed and how the election relates to this vision. Send a strong signal that says this is the most important thing on the agenda.
Winning school districts have a vision and they are committed to it. They know where they are headed and they have the plans they need to get there. And, they are committed to attaining their vision.
The same dogged determination is required for election success. Have a clear understanding of your election goals, and do whatever needs doing to end election day with a victory celebration.
According to French Associates, a senior recreation center needs to be designed with a healthy and active senior population in mind. There are special considerations for the aging, some subtle and some more significant, that will make this specific building type successful and some of those are discussed below.
Circulation
Vehicular and pedestrian circulation should be designed to provide clarity and reduce conflicts. A patron drop-off area at the front of the building is essential as many seniors are driven to the facility by family members. This area should be well defined and separated from the parking lot traffic. Volunteer traffic for a “Meals on Wheels” program and transportation buses should be separated from the route of delivery trucks and everyday visitor traffic. Pedestrian seniors should not have to cross vehicular routes when entering from parking areas.
Senior Recreation Centers
Here come the Baby Boomers!
“ ....the senior population will double while all other age groups will decrease or increase only dlightly.”
-SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council of Governments)
A large facility should consider multiple entrances to allow access to portions of the building that can be isolated and operated independently for special programs. Multiple entrances reduce distances to activity rooms and increase ease of way finding.
Safety
Transparency is a key concept in the design of a senior center. The location of staff stations or offices within the building is another important consideration. A decentralized staff can respond more quickly to the users of the facility, whether it is to answer a question or an emergency situation. An active senior center will have many programs and activities happening simultaneously. Some programs are supervised while other activities are independent. Providing clear views or windows to every space will allow staff to monitor all the activities and offer the appropriate assistance. The correct choice of interior materials, colors and textures can improve the definition of edges, entries and changes in elevation. Variations in lighting levels can improve depth perception for people with even mild macular degeneration. The exterior of the building also needs to be carefully designed. Slip and fall is the number one cause of injury among the senior population. Exterior features such as heated walkways, covered entrances, and rails and lighting should be carefully designed to increase the safety of the facility.
Flexibility
Successful centers may offer hundreds of classes and activities in a given year and many special events, lectures and parties. Some facilities even offer rooms for rent by the general public and local businesses. Many spaces within the building need to adapt to different size groups with a variety of presentation requirements. Rooms may often be used by different groups for a variety of activities during the same day or week. This need for flexibility is met in part by eliminating ownership and careful scheduling. The technology in the building must allow different room arrangements and presentation media. The rooms themselves can be flexible by utilizing operable partitions to adjust the size of the room to the needs of the activity.
Comfort
Beyond the basic requirements of safety, many elements within the building can be designed with the comfort of the senior in mind. A smaller scaled building with clear entry points and short travel distances will make the facility comfortable and easy to use. Auditory comfort can be increased by the reduction of high frequency noise. Various sound absorbing materials and furniture can be utilized to achieve the desired requirements of individual spaces. For those with reduced dexterity, features such as lower cabinet heights with larger handles and toilet facilities with higher seat heights make the use of the facility more comfortable. The heating and cooling systems should be designed to respond to various size groups with different temperature needs.
Many of these concepts are applicable to all public facilities. Their integration into a facility for seniors is however critical to the success of this building type. Careful planning, both on the part of the designers and facility directors, is crucial to the outcome of a successful senior center. A vibrant and active senior center will only be as successful as the programs available to the community. However, without adequate facilities, it will be very difficult to offer the variety and type of programs baby boomers, turned seniors, will soon demand
Successful security design for Courts projects must efficiently satisfy the specific requirements of the three distinct groups that utilize those facilities:
- The Public
- The Judiciary
- The Offenders
The movement of these groups must be separated and monitored until they come together in the courtroom.
PUBLIC ISSUES
The primary issue for public security design is effective screening of contraband that would constitute a threat to the occupants of the Courts facility. The objective is to promote public safety while providing an efficiently accessible and “community friendly” building. Traditional metal detection and organic/inorganic scanning are the technologies that are conventionally deployed for this function. Ion sensor equipment utilized for the detection of minute explosive substance particles should also be considered to complete the screening process. The arrangement of the screening station must be configured to allow efficient movement of the public with the expected traffic flow including the required percentage of detailed inspections. The placement of the screening station should provide adequate space for staging as the public enters the facility and, optimally, the design is enhanced if the equipment can be integrated into the architectural design of the building.
Closed circuit television is deployed throughout the public spaces for general surveillance. It is recommended that digital video capture technology be utilized for recording purposes. This is the best solution available for archiving today for historical data archiving and is the most efficient method for retrieving information in the event an incident occurs and back up is required. Digital video is also the best method to provide information immediately to security staff to allow the best immediate response to a security breach.
Future applications of video technology will actually involve real-time facial recognition screening of the public when entering the facility. The CCTV surveillance system will be interfaced directly to active criminal suspect databases and potential threats will be monitored and alarmed before the individual enters the facility.
JUDICIARY ISSUES
In consideration of the best security design for the judiciary the primary concern will always address maintaining a well-defined security perimeter. Immediately upon entering the facility, access control technology should be deployed to create secured parking space. The preferred design will allow individuals to remain in their vehicles until inside the protected area. A direct, restricted access pathway should be created from the parking area to the judiciary workspace providing efficient protected movement.
The access door to the courtroom should be simple to enter and a means to quickly “manually” lock the door after exiting the courtroom should be provided in the event an incident occurs. The judges bench should be equipped with ballistic-rated material to provide an area of refuge.
The judge’s bench and chambers should be configured with signaling devices to activate a duress call. Annunciation of the duress call should be routed to a 24/7-security post. In the event that a designated post is not available, the design solution should utilize wireless technology to provide alpha-numeric messaging to security personnel for immediate response to the call.
Future monitoring technology will utilize wireless duress signaling to allow the judiciary to call for support anywhere inside the facility and the security personnel will automatically receive a pin-point location of the individual. This technology could also be extended beyond the boundaries of the facility.
OFFENDER ISSUES
The security design must provide for efficient offender transport and holding within the facility. The optimum design provides a well-defined security perimeter around the offender at all times beginning from the secured sallyport at the offender entrance to the secured court holding areas. Complete separation of the offender from the judiciary and the public is the ultimate goal of good design practice.
CCTV surveillance with digital recording should be provided to cover the entire movement pathway of the offender inside the facility. This system is utilized to track the position of the offender as well as document the occurrence and conditions present in case an incident occurs.
The trend in future courtroom technology is moving to provide for the interaction of the offender, as required by the court proceedings, without requiring the physical presence of the offender. By utilizing traditional video conferencing technology, the security issues created by the physical movement of offenders will be virtually eliminated.
Geothermal Energy Facts: Geothermal Energy Pros and Cons
There is much talk about climate change, and the search for viable renewable energy sources. Everyone knows about the likes of solar, wind and wave power. But fewer have heard of geothermal, or know how does geothermal energy work. So here are some geothermal energy facts, which may help you understand the benefits and restrictions of geothermal energy.
How Does Geothermal Energy Work
The principle of this form of energy is quite simple. The ground beneath our feet gets heated by the sun on a daily basis. However, it is also a great insulator, and so retains a vast amount of this heat as stored energy. The idea is that pipes are run through a fairly large area of ground several feet down, where the temperature is more constant. Then, water is passed through the pipes, heating it.
The primary use for this type of energy is heating, as a regulated temperature can be achieved constantly with little variation dependent on time of year. It can also be used over larger areas to provide hot water, but this needs more time in the ground so more pipework and a greater area.
Geothermal Energy Pros and Cons
The advantages of geothermal energy are that once the initial investment is paid for, and energy is relatively free. And it's clean. There is little or no reliance on power from gas or electricity to provide heat, which is one of the main uses of energy in the home. The main need for electricity to run this system is for pumps to pump the water through the system. The advantages of geothermal energy are that it is cheap, once the ground works are done, and incredibly green energy. There are no emissions from the provision of heat for the home and water.
The disadvantages of geothermal energy are the initial expense and the amount of land required. It can cost thousands to dig out the land and lay the pipes. This is one of the geothermal energy problems and why it is not widely used. Another of the disadvantages about geothermal energy is that it requires a fair sized piece of land to implement. People with a fair-sized garden will be ok, but it is not possible to install in the yard of a Victorian terrace.
One possibility that some people use is a new system where pilings are drilled into the ground, with the pipe work in the foundations. Because pilings go much deeper into the ground, they gain the distance that is required underground to heat the water. This is great for new build homes, but obviously cannot be achieved in older homes.
How Many People Use Geothermal Energy
Because of the initial costs and need for space, geothermal energy is not widely used. It is becoming more popular in single builds however, and could provide an efficient method for providing heat for buildings such as apartments and new build housing estates through district heating systems or individual heating through pipes in the pilings. Because it is so expensive, it is unlikely that house building companies will install the systems in homes in the near future. But hopefully it could become the way we provide all our heat energy needs in the future.
Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/geothermal-energy-facts-geothermal-energy-pros-and-cons-397739.html#ixzz0sH7xkd3Y
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
French Associates, architectural firm headquaters incorporates geothermal systems and has been in opperation for close to 15 years.
