By Healthcare Facilities Today

Cedars Sinai Medical Office Towers in Los Angeles, CA recently improved the health of its two 11 story

buildings. Managed by REIT Management & Research, the two 166,000 ft2 medical office buildings were

in need of a mechanical upgrade. Each of the buildings had its own central plant comprised of four 150-

ton open-drive compressors using 1950’s reciprocating technology. In addition to being inefficient, the

compressors and refrigeration components had been experiencing high failure rates.

ACCO Engineered Systems of Glendale, California was selected to perform the upgrade and conducted

an engineering study to identify the system components that would deliver the best return on

investment. The study took into account the retrofit cost, energy efficiency, sound levels, ongoing

maintenance costs and reliability. After visiting various building sites that utilized BITZER, Turbocor™

and Hanbell™ compressors, REIT Management elected to specify eight BITZER high efficiency CSW9573-

160Y-4DU screw compressors.

Based in Germany, BITZER manufactures incredibly reliable, relatively quiet semi-hermetic screw

compressors that are perfectly suited for direct expansion retrofits. This compressor upgrade, along with

other system enhancements, justified a $250,000 DWP rebate for the project.

The preeminent challenge for ACCO came in replacing 1,200 tons of cooling apparatus (coils, pipe and

compressors), without disrupting building operations during construction. Utilizing ACCO’s depth of

resources, the equipment was replaced in distinct stages over four weekends. The job took five wellchoreographed

and specialized crews working through weekends to accomplish the technically

challenging changeover, ensuring that the new A/C system would be operational when the fully occupied

towers opened for business each Monday.

Please visit www.bitzerams.com, email marketing@bitzerus.com or phone (770) 503-9226.