TOPIC - Keeping Doc’s Cool, Dry & Happy in the Operating Room…Can it be Accomplished?
By: David N. Schurk
ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer
Hosted At:
Piedmont Natural Gas Technology & Design Center
4339 S. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28217
Presentation Summary:
Many healthcare facilities continue to operate with legacy HVAC systems originally designed for earlier standards of care, often leaving engineers and facility professionals challenged to meet today’s more stringent requirements for operating room (OR) environmental control. These systems may struggle to maintain proper temperature, humidity, and ventilation conditions while also accommodating surgeon comfort preferences—creating a complex and often conflicting set of performance demands.
This presentation provides an engineering-focused framework for evaluating and improving existing HVAC systems serving hospital operating rooms. Emphasis is placed on understanding the fundamental relationships between temperature, humidity, and system capability, and how these factors influence both environmental compliance and occupant comfort. Attendees will explore the limitations of conventional system designs—such as standard chilled water systems—and how these constraints impact the ability to achieve modern OR performance requirements.
Through practical analysis and real-world retrofit strategies, this session equips HVAC engineers with the tools to assess existing system performance, diagnose environmental issues, and implement effective solutions. A range of system approaches—including chilled water, DX, low-temperature glycol systems, and desiccant-based dehumidification—will be discussed in the context of improving OR conditions while maximizing the value of existing infrastructure.
Learning Objectives
After attending this session, participants will be able to:
1. Evaluate the capabilities and limitations of legacy HVAC systems serving hospital operating rooms, including chilled water, DX, and alternative system configurations.
2. Apply psychrometric principles to diagnose OR environmental issues, including the interaction between temperature, humidity, and occupant comfort.
3. Assess the impact of standard chilled water temperatures on humidity control and identify why conventional systems may fall short of current OR requirements.
4. Develop practical retrofit strategies to improve operating room environmental performance using existing infrastructure and targeted system enhancements.
Speaker Bio:
David N. Schurk serves as Director of Healthcare Vertical Markets at Hoffman & Hoffman, Inc., where he supports sales and engineering teams in advancing complex HVAC solutions within the healthcare sector. With over four decades of industry experience, his career includes senior leadership roles with global HVAC manufacturers, spanning domestic and international markets, business development, and applied system design. An ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer and Learning Institute instructor, David has delivered technical education worldwide on dehumidification, indoor environmental quality, and HVAC system performance. He has also served as Chair of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) Sustainability and Decarbonization Task Force, reflecting his leadership in advancing high-performance building strategies.
Meeting Schedule
11:30 - Registration/Network
Noon - Lunch and Presentation