Case Study: Consulting Engineering
A long-time partner with Norton Healthcare, CMTA has provided MEP design, planning, and commissioning services for the healthcare system across Metro Louisville. Since 2009, we have provided services for Norton’s expanding Brownsboro campus in East Louisville. Strategically located off I-265, the campus consists of a full-service hospital, three medical plazas, a freestanding cancer center, and a stand-alone children’s hospital.
This project is one with great impact, because [Norton Brownsboro] Hospital serves so many folks across our community. We are constantly growing and innovating, and we look forward to future projects that will accelerate our life-saving ventures, leading to a healthier community.
CMTA’s work at the Norton Brownsboro campus was initiated in 2009 with the design of the new, 70,040 SF Norton Children’s Medical Center. Designed to hospital standards, this LEED-certified acute care hospital offers an array of services, including a 24-hour emergency department, comprehensive diagnostic imaging, and a surgery department. CMTA implemented a geothermal HVAC system across the entire facility, including the operating rooms, to achieve optimal energy efficiency—marking the first fully geothermal healthcare facility in Kentucky and the first fully geothermal children's hospital in the nation.
Since then, CMTA has continued to implement energy-efficient, high-performance design strategies in our work at Norton healthcare facilities. Our commitment to continuous improvement was particularly evident in the design and construction of Medical Plazas II and III in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Each spanning approximately 100,000 SF, these four-story professional office buildings house a diverse array of services, including an Imaging Suite, Women’s Center, and Neuro Center, as well as physical therapy, wound care, and various doctor’s office suites. Following the construction of Medical Plaza II, we tracked energy performance throughout its first year of occupancy. The insights gained from this process informed our design decisions for Medical Plaza III, ensuring its sister facility achieved optimal performance levels.
Most recently, CMTA teamed with DesignGroup to design a new 172,000 SF tower at Norton Brownsboro Hospital, alongside the renovation of 44,000 SF within the existing facility and the addition of a new 2-level parking garage. The new patient tower, completed in 2020, effectively adds 70 new beds across its top three floors, as well as 48 new medical/surgical beds on the third and fourth floors. Additionally, the third floor added 22 new ICU beds and aligned with the existing ICU to streamline care. To maximize energy efficiency, the design team added a 200-ton heat recovery chiller. This innovative solution not only supplied the necessary chilled water capacity to supplement the existing plant but also efficiently supplied all the reheat hot water required during the summer months.
Given our extensive partnership with Norton Healthcare, encompassing over 2M square feet of projects throughout their facilities system-wide, CMTA was selected to lead the development of new corporate building design standards for the healthcare system. These standards provide guidance on construction documents to ensure consistency and continuity across major campuses.
In collaboration with DesignGroup, CMTA reviewed existing project specifications, construction documents, and lessons learned from past projects to create standards that align with Norton Healthcare’s expectations for high-quality construction projects. Leveraging our proven track record of delivering high-performing healthcare facilities, we helped Norton establish high-performance design strategies, including exhaust air heat recovery, high-efficiency boilers and heat recovery chillers, low-efficient pumping strategies, and high-efficiency lighting—all designed to enhance energy use and sustainability.
Our work across 6 buildings on the Norton Brownsboro campus has significantly impacted the healthcare system’s energy efficiency and building performance. Ultimately, these facilities provide enhanced healthcare to the surrounding community, including comprehensive cancer care, state-of-the-art imaging, expanded ICU department, and a 24-hour children's hospital emergency department.
Expanding on our vast experience with Norton’s facilities, we helped establish design standards that will promote resilience, sustainability, and energy efficiency for the entire healthcare system. These standards will not only reduce the healthcare system’s utility expenses but also enhance patient care, make a positive environmental impact, and benefit the community.
