The Emergency Power Systems Consolidation Project is part of a complete solution to address more than $600 million in damages at UTMB’s campus caused by Hurricane Ike. This project interfaces with several other mitigation projects designed to repair and replace damaged equipment in more than 50 buildings on campus.

For this project, LAN was challenged to re-design a cost-effective, safe, and resilient system to provide emergency power to 10 buildings in the campus’s most critical area—the healthcare core. Prior to Hurricane Ike, the buildings were powered by four Emergency Generator Plants located below the surge flood plain. After analyzing the existing systems and campus infrastructure, LAN proposed consolidating the systems into a single hurricane and flood-resistant Emergency Generator plant using a medium voltage distribution loop to serve the 10 buildings. The plant is housed in a new hurricane-proof building located above an existing parking garage.

LAN performed architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and structural design for the project, which included:
• Design of new medium voltage (MV) emergency power distribution system for the healthcare core
• New Generator plant providing 3MW of electrical power
• New building structure to house the generator plant

The multi-story structural steel-framed building designed to house the MEP equipment is located 30’ above mean sea level and is designed to withstand hurricane force winds. The building is designed to blend in with the existing surrounding buildings and also provides a covered muster area for the trauma center to use for gross decontamination or other critical functions.