Full-service hospitals are in a class by themselves. Offering 24/7 inpatient care, emergency facilities and surgical suites, these primary acute care facilities bring distinctly different challenges to sustainable design than outpatient clinics. Their continuous operation requires tremendous energy, and safety regulations dictate stringent air-quality control and generate considerable waste. By skillfully treating these hurdles as opportunities, Oregon’s Providence Newberg Medical Center (PNMC) became the first LEED Gold certified hospital in the country and a catalyst for healing those who enter the building and its surroundings as well.

Healing the Environment

A walking path through the site further extends the connection to nature, inviting staff and visitors to get exercise while experiencing the scenery. Photo by Benjamin Benschneider.

A quick diagnosis of a traditional hospital’s global impacts revealed great room for improvement, so the team strategically integrated measures that minimized PNMC’s environmental footprint. Rather than orient the 180,000-square-foot building parallel to the adjacent highway, Mahlum Architects positioned the structure to minimize thermal gain, optimize natural daylighting and shelter it from winter winds. The BetterBricks Integrated Design Labs in Portland, Ore., and Seattle, an initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, were a resource for the design team in creating informed design decisions, which included assistance for energy modeling, two eco-charrettes, and financial and daylighting analyses.

The two charrettes charted the project’s sustainable direction: An eco-charrette led by Green Building Services that established the hospital’s green goals, and an energy workshop, which generated multiple scenarios of energy performance. A DOE2 modeling study was used to analyze these scenarios and led to the selection of a final design strategy, including a premium efficiency mechanical system that captures nearly 75 percent of the building’s heat for re-use. Occupancy sensors, daylight controls and centralized lighting control systems lessen energy requirements for electric lighting. Although the ventilation system operates exclusively with outdoor air, the combination of energy-saving measures offset the demand.

An extremely tight budget inspired innovative thinking, and Providence Health & Services Director of Energy Management Services Richard Beam leveraged grants and incentives to defray the systems’ costs. PNMC is realizing an 80 percent return on investment with a complete payback in 14 months. Moreover, the facility uses 28 percent less energy than the AHSRAE 90.1-1999 energy code minimum.

“When you examine lifecycle costs versus up-front costs, this was a terrific investment,” says Beam. “After the short-term initial payback period, we’ll gain a net savings year after year, and this becomes increasingly advantageous as energy costs rise.”

To further lessen its energy impact, PNMC purchased 100 percent green power.

The project saves water with low-flow plumbing fixtures that use 33 percent less water and native landscaping that reduced the need for irrigation by more than 50 percent.

Multiple tactics lessen CO₂ emissions and fossil fuel use on site such as the provision of bicycle parking and preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as the incorporation of building materials with recycled content that came from local manufacturers.

Healing the Site

The project restored many natural facets of the land. Formerly a cultivated organic farm, impervious clay tiles lined the land to channel water through the crops. The team removed these tiles to increase the site’s water absorption and added native and drought-tolerant plants to reinstate the original landscape. A relocation of greenhouses and other site buildings ensured the structures’ continued use. Of the 58-acre site, Providence Health & Services chose to develop only 19 acres and protected many existing trees during development.

To reduce the heat-island effect, all new building roofs are topped with white thermoplastic membrane, and bioswales and walking paths line the parking area. The bioswales are located between the rows of parking to manage stormwater runoff. The team added a larger detention facility on site to treat water runoff from the buildings.

Healing the Individual

Creating an environment that advances wellness was the primary objective. Every person in the facility benefits from exceptional air quality and enhanced infection control thanks to a unique ventilation system that infuses the hospital with 100 percent fresh outside air. A palate of low-VOC materials and a commitment to green cleaning practices protect the air quality into the future.

The design’s welcoming atmosphere is based on clear circulation and distinct spaces that encircle a “healing” garden. Natural light in all public spaces, waiting areas and patient rooms create a vibrant, uplifting space that also enhance staff productivity. Views to nature from expansive windows showcase Parrett Mountain, the healing garden and the landscaped upper-level courtyards to promote wellbeing. The attraction of working in this pleasing environment helped PNMC recruit 20 new physicians to the hospital.

“This healthy new building creates an environment where physicians want to practice medicine, where employees want to work and where patients want to receive care,” says Larry Bowe, chief executive, Providence Newberg Medical Center. “Sustainability is important to Providence because our calling as a health ministry is to be good stewards with all of our resources, environmental and financial alike.”

Healing the Community

PNMC replaced an outdated hospital with a modern facility to better serve community needs. Photo by Eckert & Eckert.

PNMC replaced an outdated hospital with a remarkable facility to better serve community needs. Thoughtful site selection located the hospital adjacent to other community services, and the facility has attracted new developments to the area.

The hospital’s food service will support neighboring farmers by promoting the purchase of locally grown food products. In addition, the facility will provide energy to the greater community by selling power from two on-site 750-kilowatter emergency generators to Portland General Electric during peak demand periods.

As the nation’s first LEED Gold hospital, PNMC instills civic pride. Guided tours and signage throughout the building make the facility a demonstration project for sustainable practices, and community rooms are available for public use.

Ongoing Care

The tremendous achievement of a LEED Gold award for a continuously functioning hospital is just the beginning for PNMC and the health care design community. Confident that a detailed analysis will enhance their future operations, Providence is conducting a post-occupancy evaluation (POE), which will measure how well a number of results stack up against the original project goals. The POE will include an energy analysis; staff questionnaires to evaluate worker satisfaction; and clinical practice metrics, such as recruitment, duration of patient stays and market share.

The project showed the team that meeting high goals of environmental wellness and energy savings was feasible despite the specialized nature of hospitals. The process is becoming easier too, as new standards emerge tailored to health care facilities. The Green Guide for Health Care is a green building toolkit designed for the health care industry that launched its updated version 2.2 in January. This self-certifying guide also is serving to inform the new U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Health Care product that will be available this fall. Using these frameworks, more healthcare organizations will be better poised to create high performance healing environments that benefit both patients and the community like PNMC.

Oregon’s Providence Newberg Medical Center

LEED GOLD HOSPITAL
SIZE: 180,000 SQUARE FEET
LOCATION: NEWBERG, ORE.

OWNER: PROVIDENCE HEALTH & SERVICES
ARCHITECT: MAHLUM ARCHITECTS
GREEN BUILDING AND LEED CONSULTING: GREEN BUILDING SERVICES, INC.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: SKANSKA USA
MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS: GLUMAC
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS: DEGENKOLB ENGINEERS
LANDSCAPE DESIGN: MAYER/REED
CIVIL ENGINEERS: ANDERSON ENGINEERING, INC.

PRODUCTS AND MANUFACTURERS
CARPET: LEES
CARPET TILE: LEES
CEILING: ARMSTRONG
DAYLIGHTING CONTROLS: LC & D
DOOR HARDWARE: INGERSOLL-RAND
DOORS: ALGOMA
FLOORING: NORA
GLASS: PPG, ARCADIA
LIGHTING: LIGHTOLIER, LITHONIA, KIM
PAINT: BENJAMIN MOORE, TNEMEC, PPG
PLUMBING ACCESSORIES: CHICAGO
PLUMBING FIXTURES: ELKAY
ROOFING: STEVENS
TILE: PENTAL, DAL TILE
WALL COVERINGS: MAHARAM
WINDOW TREATMENTS: MECHOSHADE
CONFERENCE TABLES, FILES AND SHELVING, OFFICE DESKS AND SEATING: NEMSCHOFF, HERMAN MILLER
PATIENT BEDS (MEDICAL/INTENSIVE STRYKER CARE) AND STRETCHERS: STRYKER
BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: TRANE
CHILLERS: TRANE
DATA NETWORKING INFRASTRUCTURE: XTREME COMMUNICATIONS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT: SQUARE D
ELEVATORS: OTIS
FIRE SAFETY: SIEMENS
GENERATOR: HALTON
HVAC (MISC.): HAAKON
PUMPS: PROCTOR
SECURITY: HIRSH
STEAM EQUIPMENT: HURST
VARIABLE AIR VOLUME BOXES: TRIATEK

Lasting Impressions

PNMC is an amazing facility that has provoked excitement and pride among patients, staff and community members. Here are a few of their comments:

“What a gorgeous new hospital! The aesthetics overall are wonderful – so peaceful for patients and families – great job!” - E.M., surgery patient

“I’m so proud of our new hospital. This place is beautiful.” - S.R., emergency department patient

“This whole place is very calming and relaxing – it does help take your mind off things.” - A.S., emergency department patient

“Providence Newberg is a wonderful place to work – you can see and feel it when you watch our employees interact with our patients, and lot of that has to do with our physical surroundings.” – Julia Florea, R.N. Emergency Department Manager

“We are truly blessed to have such an earth-friendly place to provide care. This is a major contribution to the health of this community.” - George Weghorst, M.D. Medical Director

“I’m proud to volunteer with an organization that is setting the pace for environmentally-friendly health care construction and thinking ahead for future generations as our community grows.” - John Kerekanich, Dealer Principal, Newberg Ford Mercury and Secretary/Treasurer, Providence Newberg Ministry Board.