Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal

The CHUM temporary energy centre was built to supply Saint-Luc Hospital with steam, cooling, heating and emergency power services during the demolition of the existing energy centre and the construction of the new CHUM hospital and its energy centre. The temporary energy centre operated until commissioning of the new permanent energy centre was completed.

HH Angus was retained to study the equipment and systems required for this installation, and to prepare the phasing plan. We were also responsible for development of the conceptual design and the detailed design, and for engineering services over the course of construction and commissioning of the provisional energy centre.

This project resulted in a very complex power plant constructed in a constrained space on top of the loading dock building. The six spiral tube boilers supplied 860 kPa (125 psig) of steam to each mechanical room serving the existing facilities at Saint-Luc Hospital, the CHUM Research Centre, the Édouard Asselin and André Viallet Pavilions. As well, provision was made for the construction activities for the new facility. The electrical supply was upgraded from 12.5kV to 25kV, with transformers distributed throughout the site.

The steam piping to each building had to be routed so as not to interfere with construction of the massive P3 CHUM mega-hospital. Provisions for future connections were made to reduce interruptions of the steam supply to the CHUM Research Centre.

Working in collaboration with the Constructor, the general contractor and the subcontractors, we were able to apply innovative design approaches to reduce the cost of the energy centre. This was achieved while maintaining the facility’s established life cycle parameters, and without compromising technical or operational quality.

A very important aspect of our work was ensuring that the connection of the new temporary energy centre and the disconnection and the decommissioning of the existing energy centre would have no impact on the day-to-day operations of the existing health care facility.