June 8th, 2009
Photo: Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas
The list goes on.
Alan Bell is the man who directed the design and construction of the hospital (he holds that title for all of the Seton hospitals in Central Texas). Although he hasn’t specialized exclusively in work with hospitals, he found that “good design decisions regarding energy usage translate very well from building type to building type.”
One of the largest challenges in creating an energy efficient hospital are the many overlays of infection control, Bell said, which means that hospitals need 100 percent outside air and numerous air changes every hour. “When you exhaust that outside air you are losing all the ‘energy’ that you have invested in that air.”
The hospital’s building team knew long before ground was broken that they would strive for an extremely green facility, but also that each energy conservation measure they implemented had to pay for itself in less than 8 years.
When it comes to spreading the green message to other hospitals and health facilities around the globe, the non-profit Health Care Without Harm leads the way with its efforts to promote sustainable health care facilities that protect public health. They are represented in 52 countries and now work with about 800 hospital systems. Anna Gilmore Hall, who started as a nurse, is the group’s executive director.
“We are seeing a tremendous increase in hospitals focusing on sustainability issues,” she said. “One reason is that hospitals are huge consumers of energy and water, and there is a lot of emphasis on hospitals to reduce their energy and water consumption.”
Photo: Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas
Some of the steps are simple: Install motion sensors so lights go on and off. Reduce the volume of water being used. Make better purchasing decisions, looking for safer alternatives to certain chemicals or materials. “Twelve years ago there was a lot of mercury in the health care system. We’ve gotten that out of the hospital system. No more mercury thermometers,” she said.
There are hospitals putting farmer’s markets on their properties, along with healing gardens and growing their own fruit and vegetables. “The cost of food production is very high (in hospitals) – we need to make sure the food we’re serving is the best it can be for patients and the environment,” Hall said, adding that 450 health care entities have signed food pledges that encourage hospitals to buy local, organic food when possible.
Health Care Without Harm’s web site offers a list of the most common environmental areas where hospitals can improve. The Green Guide for Health Care provides detailed information to help improve practices in building design and construction and operations. Another organization, The Center for Health Design, supports smart building decisions for healthcare and design pros around the world. Then there is Practice Green Health, a networking organization to pass along the best advice to health care facilities that want to get greener.
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