Shades Of Green

The fast paced adoption of green building principles by the healthcare industry is a positive and necessary development that will have far reaching effects on medical design and construction. While green healthcare shares many of the attributes of other green building market segments, it also has unique aspects generated by the special requirements of the healthcare field, including heightened human needs, efficiency and technological complexity. Furthermore, even within the medical field, sustainable building will develop different shades of green to adapt to the particular circumstances of a project.

Peter Hoffmann, AIA, LEED AP shared his thoughts on the sustainable components of three Page projects in "Shades of Green," an article published in Medical Construction and Design (www.mcdmag.com). The three healthcare projects demonstrate different approaches to green building rooted in the specifics of the respective projects, but also reinforce the idea that when fundamental sustainable design principles are embedded in the design DNA, the solutions will be sustainable as well as compatible with various rating systems.

All three share certain common green design aspects: solar orientation, day lighting, views to nature, reduction of heat island effects, regional materials—zero or low cost basics that every facility should integrate. But what makes these facilities special is that in addition to the integration of baseline green building principles and products, they go one step beyond and respond sustainably to the unique circumstances of their patients, staff, locale and mission.

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