News
February 24, 2006 - A GREEN Hospital for Willits
The Howard Memorial Hospital Foundation is planning what may be the first rural hospital in the country built to stringent green environmental standards.
In March of 2005, Margie Handley, president of the foundationss board of directors, convened a small group of community members, including hospital administration and local physicians to meet with the architects representatives and the Howard Foundation to discuss a potential new vision for the hospital. Marshall Erdman & Associates, the firm hired by the Howard Foundation, is considered to be the leading health-care facility design/build company in the nation with a history of using sustainable design strategies.
The discussion for the evening focused on creating a new hospital that will be environmentally responsible, within the existing constraints inherent in any building project. The group was in agreement that the new hospital should be designed and built according to criteria as defined by the US Green Building Council and the Green Guide for Health Care.
I was present at that meeting and would like to clarify for the community what the term green signifies in new construction.
The fundamental objectives of the Green Building industry are to conserve natural resources, increase energy efficiency and improve indoor air quality. The need to change building practices became evident after bad indoor air quality was linked to health problems like asthma, weakened immune systems, and even cancer. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, 40 percent of children will develop respiratory disease, in part, due to the chemicals in their homes.
After a learning curve of two decades, the Green Building industry is now mainstream, well-organized and growing. Financially, Green Buildings save the owners money over the long term because there are lower operating costs. By incorporating energy conservation measures into the design, energy performance is optimized and there is significantly lower energy usage. Adobe Systems of San Jose, which occupies a million-square-foot complex, reduced its energy costs by 30 percent over four years by implementing green strategies.
The human benefit is that when toxic chemicals are eliminated from the workplace, employee health improves, reducing health costs and absenteeism. To date there have been 61,000 Green homes built nation-wide. A survey of these homeowners found that the people who bought homes built by Green standards saw a marked improvement in their childrens health. It is especially important for hospitals to have good indoor air quality not only because of patients with impaired immune systems, but for the overall promotion of a healing atmosphere along with assuring the environmental integrity of the work environment for the caregivers.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a national coalition consisting of over 5000 professional societies and trade associations, including building owners, managers and users. USGBC has developed a rating system called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) which is a voluntary third-party certification program that defines in specifics how to build Green and how to evaluate a facilitys performance over its life cycle. As more Green Buildings have been constructed the cost of design and construction has dropped. Environmentally friendly materials are now more readily available. The earlier that green strategies are incorporated into a project, the better the opportunity to create a cost/benefit analysis and influence the overall cost and savings of the project.
The successes of Green Buildings have spurred the development of independent programs in nine cities and seven counties in California. There are Green Building programs in eight states and Washington is the first to require LEED certification for all major construction projects built with public funds. The goals defined by the LEED Rating Tool instruct the architects and owners on specific strategies that provide social, environmental and financial benefits.
In addition to LEED, the architects are using the Green Guide for Healthcare Guidelines (GGHC) which is the program that I personally recommended to Margie Handley prior to the meeting. Similar in intent to LEED, the GGHC tool was designed specifically for the unique needs of healthcare environments. There are additional criteria specific to the performance of the healthcare facilities only inherent to the Green Guide tool. The Green Guide is self -certifying, whereas LEED requires a third party reviewing agency.
The architects have registered the project for the coveted LEED certification and as a pilot project for the GGHC rating tool.
Some of the project goals identified for the new hospital and supported by the Howard Foundation are: water-efficient landscape design, light pollution reduction, water use reduction in building systems, CFC reduction in HVAC & R equipment, optimization of energy performance, storage and collection of recyclables, low-emitting paints and adhesives, indoor chemical pollutant source control, elimination of mercury, lead and cadmium, continuous thermal monitoring system, and full commissioning of the project into post occupancy. Since the finished hospital will be approximately seventy-two thousand square feet, it is critical to its sustainability to be operated efficiently in the future.
The success of building a green hospital depends on the green features being fully funded and built correctly. During the planning stages of construction projects many features are included. In the end the budget will determine which features are abandoned and which features are built. However, the Howard Foundation is focused upon the construction of a campus that represents the future of rural healthcare and aspires to resonate with the values of the communities it serves.
To cover the additional up-front costs incurred, the Foundation has even created a Green Building Fund to which area residents are welcome to designate their contributions in support of this important design and building initiative.
The new Howard Memorial Hospital is planned as a healing facility that through its design and construction, will operate efficiently, protect its users, and promote whole health for all occupants and the community it serves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nancy Gayle Simpson is a freelance residential designer and indoor air quality consultant creating energy-efficient design in Mendocino County since 1984.
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Publication: The Willits News
