Schneider Electric recently announced its commitment to deliver building systems integration for the Pavilion, Penn Medicine’s new hospital in Philadelphia. The integrated, digital solution will feature lighting, automated shading, and fixture control solutions by Lutron Electronics. The concept is designed to allow patients to control their own environment, including lights, shades, and temperature and have ready access to other functions like a secondary nurse call button from a single app.
Advanced design and system integration were focal points from the start of the project design. Working with the PennFIRST team are Penn Medicine as owner, Foster+Partners and HDR as architectural designers, BR+A as engineering designer, and Balfour Beatty and L.F. Driscoll as construction management, as well as a number of key trade contractor partners, including William A.J. Schaeffer’s Sons and Philadelphia D&M.
To ensure the result was a customer-centric solution designed to meet project specifications, a working lab was developed that facilitated comparison of prospective systems from a variety of lighting control and shading solution manufacturers. The lab environment allowed the team to consider all aspects of product capability, cost, ease of installation, integration and setup, and intuitive operation of controls for patient, staff, and visitors.
A single system infrastructure for lights and shades eliminates the need for redundant wiring and offers significant benefits in terms of installed cost. This digital infrastructure also enhances data reporting and increases flexibility to accommodate changes during the design, construction, and ongoing operational phases of the building.
