Dell Children's Medical Center

THE CHALLENGE

Dell Children's Medical Center set out to achieve something unprecedented: the first LEED Platinum certification for a healthcare facility in the United States, and one of only a handful worldwide. The $200 million, 475,000-square-foot facility required flooring solutions that would meet the highest sustainable building standards while serving the demanding needs of a pediatric hospital.

The project presented unique complexities. Built on Austin's former Mueller Airport grounds, the facility incorporated 41,000 cubic yards of fly ash substituted for cement in the foundation and walls. While this reduced the project's carbon footprint, the fly ash's chemical makeup created bonding challenges for flooring installation. The hospital needed more than 50 different flooring products installed across diverse environments, from patient care areas to administrative offices to wet areas, all meeting strict LEED criteria for VOC content, recycled materials and sustainable installation practices.

OUR SOLUTION

Intertech brought extensive green building project experience to Dell Children's, leveraging that knowledge to navigate every detail from product selection through installation. We worked directly with each manufacturer to ensure proper application and issued a five-year warranty with the installation.

For most areas, we installed natural linoleum flooring with green label adhesives containing very low or zero volatile organic compounds. In carpeted areas, we specified carpet constructed with recycled content and manufactured for full circle recycling capability in the future.

In administrative areas, we installed raised access flooring with underfloor air delivery, creating more efficient air circulation that requires less power than traditional HVAC systems. Intertech has provided raised flooring since 1991, integrating underfloor plenums for electrical, voice/data and air supply. This solution creates significantly less expensive and quicker moves for high-churn facilities.

To address the bonding challenges created by the fly ash concrete mix, our team worked carefully with each product to achieve proper adhesion, taking extra care throughout the installation process.

THE RESULTS

Intertech installed more than 50 different flooring products throughout the 475,000-square-foot facility, helping Dell Children's earn critical LEED points through our flooring adhesive choices and sustainable product selections.

The installation encompassed 176,000-plus lineal feet of seams in patterns and insets in the linoleum, all hand cut to minimize material breaks in the patterns. This hand-cutting approach delivered superior results compared to jet or water cut methods. All wet areas of the facility were heat welded for maximum durability and hygiene.

Beyond the technical achievements, the project stands as one of the most complex flooring installations in the nation. The sheer size, intricate floor design work, number of different products and demanding installation schedule required expertise few flooring contractors could deliver.
Dell Children's Medical Center opened in summer 2007, achieving its goal of LEED Platinum certification and setting the bar for sustainable building techniques in healthcare facilities nationwide.