Dan Diaspora | Cornwall Regional all over again?

I was recently contracted by an energy services company with an international footprint to conduct due diligence on an invitation for ­prequalification regarding an ­energy-savings project for hospitals in Jamaica. The project is being managed by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and funded by a number of multilateral agencies.

As a Jamaican living in the diaspora, I jumped at the opportunity to return home, albeit for a short time, to conduct the due diligence. I am routinely contracted by energy services companies in the United States to conduct these types of audits.

What I found at the end of my two weeks was very disappointing, and I suggested that the energy services company not respond to the invitation as there were glaring instances of potential liabilities.

As I am not able to share my final report because of confidentiality requirements, I requested that I be allowed to share some general concerns.

The first and most glaring red flag was the lack of attention being given by the project management team in Jamaica to the need for a comprehensive building envelope assessment. When performing energy services contracting on hospitals, the science, engineering and history in this sector dictate a different approach than one would take in energy contracting for other types of facilities.

Even though heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and lighting solutions are critical in improving energy efficiency in hospitals and healthcare facilities, attention to building envelope analysis is often neglected and forgotten. Health facility engineering professionals must have a fundamental understanding of how the building envelope is designed and constructed to provide safe and effective energy solutions.

It is questionable whether there are any health facility engineers involved with the project management team and whether anyone in the unit has had extensive experience in deep energy retrofits in hospitals.

With memories of Cornwall Regional still very fresh in the minds of Jamaicans, it appears that we are about to embark on a similar exercise that could result in very similar consequences.

So with the building envelopes issues unresolved, there is also a lack of understanding of fundamental health facility engineering.

Health facilities are very unique in terms of the population that they serve, but also because they are operated seven days per week, 24 hours per day. With facilities that are several decades old, the wear and tear can be exceptional, worse so when exacerbated by decades of inadequate maintenance.

With the Government of Jamaica announcing multibillion-dollar infrastructure improvement for public health sector buildings, my suggestion is that it coordinate activities with the energy management programmes currently under way to ensure proper attention is payed to building envelope engineering.

Health facilities safety engineering is also very critical when conducting these types of retrofits.

If we don’t want to repeat the mistakes of Cornwall Regional, I implore the Government to immediately intervene and not wait past the point of no return.

Dan Diaspora is a health systems auditor. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.