Greening Hospitals

When Boulder Community Hospital (Colorado) received its certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for a LEED silver rating, the hospital not only joined a select group of LEED buildings, but it also became the first and only hospital so far to get a LEED certification. There will likely be more hospitals but not without a struggle. There are 27 health care facilities registered with LEED waiting for word on whether they will receive certification. While that’s a good start, health care facilities comprise 30% of the new construction market. Given that, experts say nearly one-third of the 1800 projects registered with LEED should be hospitals. Because it’s so difficult to make those facilities green, however, less than two percent are. Hospitals operate on a 24 hour basis and have volumes of special regulations to adhere to. Just moving air around takes more energy in a hospital than in most other facilities. Lighting levels are higher and elevators operate all day and night. This makes designing a green hospital more difficult. “I’m not aware of any state that enforces energy code compliance on hospitals,” says Kim Shinn, an engineer with TLC Engineering. “I believe the underlying reason for the […]

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