New Wilford Hall Phase 1, more than halfway complete Published Sept. 27, 2012 By Senior Airman Kevin Iinuma 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The first phase of the future Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center is nearly 67 percent complete and is on schedule. The facility will be constructed in three phases and is essentially comprised of four wings, with garden spaces between each wing. "A unique and significant challenge of this project is that it is phase-funded," said Capt. Patrick Ryan, health facilities division officer. "It's like designing a single building, but cutting it into several pieces and asking a different contractor to construct each section. Ensuring all sections form a seamless, uniform facility requires careful coordination." Phase 1 of the new facility will consist of a new energy plant, a parking structure and the first wing, which are expected to reach completion in August 2013. The Phase 2 portion of the construction project, which is approximately 20 percent complete, includes two other wings of the new facility and is expected to be finished in January 2014. The final phase includes the "D" wing and additions to previously constructed areas. It is not awarded yet, but is expected to be complete in the summer of 2015. The new WHASC is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is the most widely recognized and widely used green building program across the globe and is a certification program for buildings, homes and communities. The project has been designed to reduce annual energy costs by approximately 24 percent. Some energy efficient design measures included to minimized heat gain are the building being optimally oriented, covered in green and reflective roofing and brise soleil and shading devices on windows. Other design elements include variable frequency drive centrifugal chillers, condensing boilers, occupancy sensors and lighting control systems that will automatically turn off lights after hours. The estimated building water use reduction is 33 percent based on full occupancy. Once the three phases are constructed and outfitted, the new Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center will be ready for occupancy. Construction of the state-of-the-art medical facility is projected to be completed in 2015 and will be the largest outpatient ambulatory surgical center in the Department of Defense. USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)