You’re familiar with the typical hospital room: cold, clinical, harsh lighting and minimal glazing. Over the past five years, though, we have seen a shift away from what was previously the widely accepted standard.

Today, modern healthcare facilities incorporate comfort for patients, employees and visitors; warmer colors and natural materials; and an environment that is known to better promote healing. Many hospitals are addressing the fact that while patients would likely prefer to be elsewhere, all patients should feel like their stay is nearly as comfortable as and much healthier than recuperating at home. In addition, hospital administrators are seeing the financial benefits of shorter patient stays and improved staff productivity.

A bonus benefit: Much of what is being implemented reduces a hospital’s impact on the environment.

Industry Trends

All indications are that this decade will bring about some of the most innovative ideas yet for how a hospital should be built and operated. From the point the shovels hit the ground, modern hospitals will be known for their resource efficiency, air-quality measures and their added commitment to patient health.

Beyond the ever-expanding measures to correctly site a building, provide the right balance of daylight and air conditioning, specify the most-efficient fixtures and more, there are additional innovative ideas being implemented by Skanska and other firms. The list includes the use of “green trailers” to reduce the energy and water used during the construction phase; the inclusion of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) subcontractor’s input during the design process to eliminate over-engineering of systems and, thus, material waste; utilization of building information modeling (BIM) and radio frequency identification (RFID) to reduce the amount of time it takes to construct a project and, in turn, reduce equipment exhaust and other emission-producing activities; and extension of the initial energy modeling program into a long-term efficiency-tracking tool. Among other environmentally helpful innovations, we are preparing a unique prefabricated construction method for elements of a healthcare project in Ohio, which reduces end waste as well as the project timeline.

Green, and the measures required to obtain that label, begin at the outset of the project. Whether before or during the design phase, conversations about health and environmental sustainability put the project on its path and must be revisited almost daily. Now that green has become so engrained in our culture, it is expected that all the partners will bring their experience and innovations to the table.

One well-noted example of innovation is the work done by Anshen and Allen, along with Skanska, in helping to introduce a green hospital room model and provide some tactics that clients can utilize. The model room includes low-flow faucets, flooring made with renewable materials, and non-toxic items in the ceiling, bed and walls. There’s even a balcony because research shows that connecting with nature can help with healing.

The green 400-square-foot patient lab was designed to demonstrate how green materials and technologies can be incorporated into nearly every facet of hospital construction – and not always at exorbitant prices.

Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center is currently under construction.

How Things Have Changed

When we completed Oregon’s Providence Newberg Medical Center in June 2006, we were breaking new ground and very few hospitals were building green facilities. That facility was the first LEED Gold hospital in the nation.

Since then, there has been widespread adoption of green building practices in healthcare nationwide. Even projects that aren’t targeting LEED are seeking to integrate tangible green elements. Here at Skanska, we’ve executed green healthcare projects in virtually every region of the country, and we now manage billions of dollars worth of healthcare construction projects that incorporate green aspects.

We’re seeing specialized healthcare facilities take these steps. Shands at the University of Florida Cancer Hospital is aiming for LEED Silver certification and LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center, which will be among the country’s first sustainable children’s hospitals, is also striving to meet Silver. Both will reduce waste, conserve energy and water, and provide a healthier and safer environment for patients and families.

Future Growth of Green

Adoption in these specialized care centers will lead to new applications of green methods. Increasingly, going green is helping hospitals with their needs: fulfilling faith-based mission statements; replacing aging facilities with new efficient products; increasing fundraising appeal and sponsorship; and becoming an example to their communities of how to operate facilities.

Both the USGBC’s LEED for Healthcare and the similar Green Guide for Healthcare program encourage innovation, leading to good ideas that are now becoming common practice. Skanska and its peers are on the cusp of the next wave of concepts that will, hopefully, make tomorrow’s health care facilities greener at a superior value. Already, we’ve seen potential from studies done on the feasibility of living buildings. It’s exciting to think about how elements of those projects could be applied to future healthcare environments.

We have to remain committed to finding new and innovative methods that help patient health – and environmental health. Just as doctors seek to find the best new methods to treat patients, we builders must strive to be at the cutting edge of building technology.