Healthcare construction has slowed a bit in the last few years, but it remains a critically important sector for many AEC firms. While healthcare clients are demanding sustainable design and construction as a matter of course, green building is no longer limited strictly to hospital projects.
In Seattle, Swedish Cancer Institute has installed a factory-fabricated radiotherapy treatment “vault” to house its TomoTherapy treatment system. RAD Technology Medical Systems manufactured steel modules for the vault at its production facility, along with prefab wood modules for the patient exam and office portion of the nearly 4,000-sf facility. It is believed to be the first radiation center to earn LEED Silver certification.
Another first—at least for a privately owned facility—goes to San Francisco Surgical Arts’ LEED-CI Platinum (v.2009) oral and maxillofacial surgery office. Environmental Building Strategies led the Building Team—medical designer Kohan Inc. and contractor All Phase Builders—in reducing lighting power 37% and water usage 40% over conventional facilities. Solar-powered keyboards and Energy Star-qualified LED monitors and appliances were also used.
For the $538 million expansion of Phoenix Children’s Hospital (designed by HKS to Green Guide for Health Care standards), Kitchell Contractors built a central energy plant for the 34-acre campus that employs a high-efficiency, 800-ton water-to-water heat pump chiller, a technology widely used in the Middle East.
The central plant will save 5.6 million gallons of water per year, reduce natural gas consumption by 70%, and trim energy and operating costs $11 million over 15 years. The project also received a $464,000 cash award from APS Solutions for Business, the local electrical utility’s energy-conservation program for commercial customers.
In Richmond, Va., Moseley Architects worked with design partners KEI Architects,
Dennis Kowal Architects, and John Dickinson & Partners and GC Kenbridge Construction on the renovation of the Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired Administration and Activities Building. The center provides training for blind, vision-impaired, and deaf-blind Virginians to adapt to living with partial or no sight.
Commonwealth guidelines called for the $4,272,600 project to bring the facility, which was built in 1970, up to LEED Silver standards. The team went well beyond that. A central skylit atrium brought light and warmth into the facility. Variable-speed HVAC systems and energy-recovery technology were installed. Single-pane windows were replaced with low-e, double-pane units. Existing halide site lights were upgraded to LED fixtures. Energy use was trimmed 15%, water consumption by 30%, saving 34,000 gallons a year.
As a result of these measures, the project earned LEED Gold certification.
The team also embraced “sustainability” in a larger context in making the center compliant with ADA Accessibility Guidelines. By not focusing exclusively on what could be seen, the team created a design that considered such factors as echoes, smells, and proportions to arrive at what they called a “building for sighted people.”
Another project seeking to break new ground in sustainability is the Palliative Care Campus, a 120-unit Enhanced Assisted Living Residence for persons with serious progressive illnesses. It is said to be the world’s first spirit-centered, enhanced assisted-living community residence. The client, the HealthCare Chaplaincy, is a national leader in research, education, and multi-faith patient-centered care. FXFOWLE Architects is the AOR and designer, in collaboration with MHG Architects and Clodagh Design.
The 16-story, 180,000-sf project, to be built in Lower Manhattan along the East River, will also house a geriatric and palliative care outpatient medical practice, plus research, educational, clinical practice, and administrative spaces. The facility will address not only patients’ physical ills, but also their psychological and spiritual well-being. The HealthCare Chaplaincy hopes the new campus will serve as a national demonstration project for the healthcare industry. +
Related Stories
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | May 3, 2022
For glass openings, how big is too big?
Advances in glazing materials and glass building systems offer a seemingly unlimited horizon for not only glass performance, but also for the size and extent of these light, transparent forms. Both for enclosures and for indoor environments, novel products and assemblies allow for more glass and less opaque structure—often in places that previously limited their use.
Architects | May 3, 2022
A U.K.-based design firm flaunts industrialized construction as it expands into U.S.
Bryden Wood wants to set up a network for manufactured components for repeatable building types.
Codes and Standards | May 3, 2022
American Institute of Steel Construction updates environmental product declarations
The American Institute of Steel Construction has released updated environmental product declarations (EPDs) “to help designers and building owners design more environmentally friendly buildings and bridges,” according to an AISC news release.
Education Facilities | May 2, 2022
Texas School for the Deaf campus gateway enhances sense of belonging for deaf community
The recently completed Texas School for the Deaf Administration and Welcome Center and Early Learning Center, at the state’s oldest continuously operating public school, was designed to foster a sense of belonging for the deaf community.
Codes and Standards | May 2, 2022
Developer Hines, engineer MKA develop free embodied carbon reduction guide
Real estate management and investment firm Hines has released the Hines Embodied Carbon Reduction Guide. The free guide, produced with Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), is the result of a two-year effort, relying on MKA’s industry-leading knowledge of carbon accounting and involvement in programs such as the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) Tool.
Building Team | May 2, 2022
HED and VAI announce merger to bring strategic expertise and drive community impact in Dallas
HED (Harley Ellis Devereaux), a leading national architecture and engineering firm, today announced a merger with award-winning, Dallas-based VAI Architects Incorporated (VAI).
Laboratories | Apr 29, 2022
Oracle Industry Lab in Chicago enables development of solutions for multiple industries
The Oracle Industry Lab in Chicago, which provides customers in multiple industries the opportunity to test new technologies, recently opened.
Market Data | Apr 29, 2022
U.S. economy contracts, investment in structures down, says ABC
The U.S. economy contracted at a 1.4% annualized rate during the first quarter of 2022.
Codes and Standards | Apr 28, 2022
Architecture firm Perkins&Will to deliver ‘carbon forecasts’ for clients
Global architecture firm Perkins&Will says it will issue its clients a “carbon forecast” for their projects.
Retail Centers | Apr 28, 2022
Cannabis dispensary Beyond-Hello debuts ‘glass-box’ design for Culver City facility
Los Angeles’ Culver City will open its first cannabis dispensary with Beyond/Hello.