Case Study - The Making of a Skylight Milkshake
Have you ever heard the story about a sales person who spent many days and nights on the road? Well, this particular sales person had a habit of calling down to room service and ordering a milkshake every night no matter where he stayed. One night, when he called to order his customary milkshake, he was informed, "Sir, I'm sorry but we do not offer milkshakes." "Well do you have a glass of milk and some vanilla ice-cream?" he asked. "Of course." was the reply. "Well then may I get a vanilla milkshake?" "I'm sorry sir but we do not offer milkshakes" replied room service. "Well then I think I'll order a glass of milk and a bowl of vanilla ice-cream" said the sales person (see where this is going?). Room service delivered the glass of milk and a bowl of ice-cream and lo-and-behold he had his vanilla milkshake before retiring for the evening.
Now you're probably thinking nice story, but what the heck does this have to do with a skylight? Believe it or not, it has a lot to do with a project recently completed for a major health care organization in Rochester, Minnesota. Our representative was contacted by the General Contractor who had a problem with the existing skylights on the clinic. The skylights were a custom blend of a translucent panel system with a curb and double dome skylight mounted at the apex of the pyramids. The existing skylights looked fine, besides the fact that the competitors' brand had that nice amber glow to them, but that was not the real problem.
After meeting with the clinic directors and architectural staff, we found out what the true problem was. What was happening was that these seven skylights were sitting over the top of the MRI machines. When the temperature fell low enough, the skylights were condensating, freezing, and then thawing over and over. Not only was this an inconvenience for the patient, it was also putting false images on the MRI scans. This was due to the fact that there are Radio Frequency (RF) screens located in the light well to block unwanted radio frequencies. The dripping condensation was creating a path for the frequencies to distort the images.
The first thought that came to mind was to just lower the humidity levels so that there was no moisture necessary to form condensation. Well, this was not an option. The clinic staff had purposely set higher humidity levels for the comfort of their patients. The reason? Many of these patients were going through radiation treatments which in some cases left burns. The high humidity levels were helping the comfort level of these patients. The clinic had many reasons for not just eliminating these skylights to solve the problem. The Psychology Department had done studies that proved a patient had less apprehension going through the machine if they could look up and see the sky before entering. Ok, what to do then? A glass skylight would let too much light in and a translucent skylight would not allow the patient see the sky before entering.
We had an idea that involved making a custom skylight using Major's Guardian 275® translucent panel system at the bottom and then mounting an Auburn® glass pyramid at the apex. After a few brainstorming sessions, we came up with a concept that included a thermally broken, two-piece Guardian 275® framing system with an Auburn® system mounted to the perimeter at the apex of the translucent system. By using the two-piece, thermally broken frame system, we were able to use foam insulation in the cavity of the hips. We also incorporated a condensation pan system under both perimeter frames. The frames were finished off by placing insulated covers on both the Auburn® and Guardian 275® systems. The panels themselves were manufactured with a .15 U-factor, heavy insulation as well as having a thermally-broken grid core.
These skylights were also manufactured to make them removable to facilitate the cleaning of the RF screens below them (which needs to be done periodically throughout the year). By making these skylights removable, it also helped us in the installation process. Most people are unaware of the huge costs for running an MRI machine. We were told by the clinic staff that when a machine is down, the costs to have that machine not running is around $20,000 an hour when you consider that they can get 10 or so patients through the MRI Lab in an hour. Do the math, seven machines at $20k an hour... this is why MRI machines are not shut down. Because of this, we were able to assemble the skylights next to the openings. When there was a break between patients, the installers made the switch from failing skylight to flawless, high-performance skylights from Major Industries.
We have had many days with temperatures below zero since we completed this project. The skylights have out-performed the previous skylights by the competition with no frosting or condensation what-so-ever. We did it! We went from a concept to a reality. The end result was a very happy customer and general contractor.
Now what about the milkshake? It turns out that this is the same principle. Look outside the box. Companies such as Major Industries have that same fortitude and the "It can be done!" attitude.
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