Green health care facilities benefit everyone
by Shannon Delaney of WasteCap Wisconsin, Feb. 20, 2007

As new health care facilities are being designed and constructed all over the country, many are fulfilling their mission to promote health and improve quality of life even before any patients have been admitted.

The Green Guide Institute, an independent organization researching green lifestyles, now finds that green-built health care facilities are not only benefiting the community and its employees, but are promoting healing in patients.

Hospitals and clinics that build green lower their energy costs, reduce waste and provide a healthier environment for their occupants, reports a Green Guide Institute publication. Green health care facilities are better able to prevent the spread of germs, provide healthier indoor air and let in more national light.

“Natural daylight will create a space that is more productive for the occupants of the building,” said Jeff Niesen, a project manager for Boldt Construction. “It’s a much more comfortable environment.”

Niesen is currently working on the construction of the University of Wisconsin Interdisciplinary Research Complex in Madison. The research complex will focus on a variety of health issues including cancer, stem cell and regenerative medicine.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that green buildings provide social benefits such as the potential to increase the comfort and health of those inside and a more pleasant atmosphere as a result of the buildings’ structural beauty. Building green also minimizes the strain on local infrastructures and improves the overall quality of life to those occupying the building as well as the surrounding neighborhood.

Promotes healing
Brian Marble, project manager for M.A. Mortenson Company, is currently working on the construction of the Froedtert Cancer Pavilion in Wauwatosa. Marble said building a sustainable facility was important to Froedtert due to “the environmental connection to cancer.”

Marble said incorporating natural textiles like wood and stone in sustainable health care facilities promotes healing and gives the space a warm environment.

According to a 2003 report from the U.S. Green Building Council titled Building Momentum: National Trends and Prospects for High-Performance Green Buildings, green buildings can boost the productivity of employees. The report states green buildings have design features that improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality.

These are cost-effective ways to improve the productivity of workers, which, in turn, will enhance the quality of services offered or products produced inside the building.

Building green heath care facilities is benefiting contractors too. Marble said one simple but effective tool for building a sustainable design is recycling construction debris. According to WasteCap Wisconsin, a statewide nonprofit organization hired to help develop construction debris recycling programs for both the IRC and Froedtert projects, recycling and reusing construction waste is both cost-effective and beneficial to the environment.

“The contractors who build green health care facilities are seeing significant savings by recycling construction debris,” said Susan Buchanan, executive director of WasteCap Wisconsin. “They are not only saving on waste disposal fees but are also saving natural resources important to the community.”

M.A. Mortenson Company is also managing the expansion project taking place at Columbia St. Mary’s Ozaukee Campus. The project has recycled more than 1,000 tons of material to date and has saved approximately $17,000 in avoided disposal costs by recycling construction debris. WasteCap Wisconsin reports that by recycling wood and metal, the project has saved the equivalent of 740 trees and enough energy savings to power 12 average-sized homes for a year.

The project won the 2006 WasteCap Wisconsin Big Diverter Award for highest recycling rate on a construction project. M.A. Mortenson Company, which is currently recycling 83 percent of the construction debris generated on the site, will host a WasteCap Wisconsin Talk & Tour on March 28 to showcase its successful recycling program and offer a tour of the expansion project. For more information, visit www.wastecapwi.org/events.

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