Approach proves successful for massive research and patient facilities

Florham Park, NJ — Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE: EMR) and a global leader in maximizing availability, capacity and efficiency of critical infrastructure, has helped enable Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to 'right size' its reliable emergency power infrastructure to satisfy near-term demand and minimize capital investment. 

"Planning for infrastructure growth is a conundrum faced all too often by facilities management," said Bhavesh Patel, director of marketing for Emerson Network Power’s ASCO Power business. Should an infrastructure larger than needed in the near term be built for anticipated long-term growth? Or, should it be built to satisfy only near-term demand, with more infrastructure added later as needed? 

Mark Hungerford  has wrestled with the conundrum for 15 years as the operating engineer for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. The Seattle, Washington medical research and healthcare campus has grown six-fold since 1991 and now covers 15 acres and employs 4000 people.

Today, seven stationary and a portable diesel-powered generator totaling nine megawatts (MW) of capacity, 22, 480V ASCO Automatic Transfer Switches ranging in size from 200 to 3000 amperes, and an array of uninterruptible power supplies  feed selected loads during normal source outages. 

"We start with a basic, robust infrastructure of high quality equipment that will accommodate expansion, and grow out from there, when and where necessary," Hungerford said. 

As a case in point, the Center recently acquired an existing 177,000 sq. ft. building near the campus. Hungerford helped determine emergency power requirements that would provide the level of reliability necessary for the operations it would house in the near-, mid-, and long-term. This approach has served the campus well. Today, it's recognized for its reliable and right-sized infrastructure.

"It's all about reliability..." Hungerford emphasized the point: "It’s all about reliability. Everything, especially our data centers, are built to never go down." 

That's because campus operations scream 'mission critical!' Data centers totaling 18,000 sq. ft. store colossal volumes of information produced by more than 200 research labs and advanced imaging facilities, cellmonitoring and manufacturing operations, and specialized tools that analyze and sequence DNA and RNA. 

Patient prescriptions and medical histories, employee payroll, and back up data for personal computers and other electronic devices add to the volume of stored and managed data. Power reliability also is critical for more than 900 freezers that maintain samples at sub-zero temperatures, sometimes for decades. Freezer contents include completed research, experimental results, and patient samples: truly irreplaceable items that can represent years of scientific effort.

At the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, power reliability is critical to help ensure smooth patient flow. A power outage, however brief, upsets that flow, quickly bottlenecking procedures. Rescheduling appointments and restarting sophisticated electronic equipment are disruptive, time consuming, and expensive. 

Planning ahead, Hungerford recently submitted a budget request to work with Emerson Network Power to replace an additional 800 and 2,000 amp 480V transfer switch with bypass-isolation types. 

When he's advocating for electrical system improvements, he said, "We explain it on a level that shows direct impact. Our arguments for the better product or superior features are usually accepted. No one is eager to go on record as saying we can’t afford this or that, and then, a couple of power outages later, find that what we advocated for is a necessity. And the price to add it later is always much higher, and in other ways painful, of course.”

Proper foresight and design of emergency power systems is all a part of solving the conundrum of building and maintaining a reliable infrastructure for a rapidly expanding, mission critical medical campus. For Hungerford and his team, it's all in a day's work.

For more information on ASCO Power Transfer Switches call (800) 800 ASCO (2726), email CustomerCare@Asco.com or visit www.EmersonNetworkPower.com/ASCO.

About Emerson Network Power 

Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), delivers software, hardware and services that maximize availability, capacity and efficiency for data centers, healthcare and industrial facilities. A trusted industry leader in smart infrastructure technologies, Emerson Network Power provides innovative data center 

infrastructure management solutions that bridge the gap between IT and facility management and deliver efficiency and uncompromised availability regardless of capacity demands.  Our solutions are supported globally by local Emerson Network Power service technicians. Learn more about Emerson Network Power products and services at www.EmersonNetworkPower.com

About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets around the world.  The company is comprised of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies, and Commercial & Residential Solutions.  Sales in fiscal 2012 were $24.4 billion.  For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.