Meeting/Event Information

Speaker

BIO David Schurk holds the positions of Director of Applied Engineering and National Sales Manager at Innovative Air Technologies in Covington, GA. Additionally, he serves as an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer and Instructor for the Humidity Control I & II professional development training courses. Previously, he chaired the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) Sustainability and Decarbonization Leadership Task Force. With over 40 years of experience, David has contributed significantly to HVAC systems design and analysis across diverse sectors, specializing in healthcare and aerospace environmental control and air quality. His expertise is recognized through numerous ASHRAE Journal articles, frequent speaking engagements both domestic and internationally, and acclaim as an authority in dehumidification analysis, system design, component selection, and building integration.

Many rooms within hospitals require special design considerations because of intensified infection concerns, high air-change rates, special equipment, unique procedures, high internal air-conditioning loads and the presence of immunocompromised patients. In no other healthcare space does the design of the Heating-Ventilating and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system take on more importance than in an Operating Room (OR), where its sole purposes is to minimize infection, maintain staff comfort and contribute to improving the environment of patient care.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss how minimum code requirements for temperature and relative humidly align with the “real-word” expectations of the OR surgeon and staff.
• Learn why Doc’s and Nurses are so rarely comfortable in the OR, even in modern (and expensive) healthcare facilities.
• Understand what Doc’s and Nurses really mean when they say “make it colder” in the OR.
• Realize the roll both temperature and relative humidity (in combination) play in maintaining both comfortable and healthy OR environments.
• Come to appreciate the struggle Hospital Facility Professionals face when tasked to provide Doc’s and Nurses with comfortable (cool & dry) OR conditions. Learn the limits of existing hospital HVAC systems in producing the desired results.
• Recognize new and emerging HVAC technologies that can maintain precise OR comfort control while also helping minimize the risk of Surgical Site Infections (SSI) and Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs), which together contribute greatly to increased healthcare costs and reductions in hospital productivity and profitability.

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