University of Vermont Medical Center – NICU

The University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), a leading healthcare provider serving over one million people in Vermont and Northern New York, needed to replace the aging HVAC system and controls for their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), located within the UVM Children’s Hospital. This critical project began as a design-build effort focused on improving the NICU’s HVAC system, but quickly expanded to include replacing aging ductwork, upgrading air filtration, converting pneumatic controls to DDC systems, and enhancing plumbing and medical gas systems. A significant challenge was completing this comprehensive overhaul without disrupting the NICU’s daily operations and the care of its critically ill infant patients. This required meticulous planning, close coordination with all trades and hospital staff, and the implementation of temporary air systems to maintain precise temperature and pressure levels within the busy unit. The project’s success relied heavily on the expertise and support of our engineering, operations, and project management teams, along with subcontractors specializing in temperature controls, testing and balancing, crane and rigging, and medical gas certifications.