Sustainability and wellness were a focus in the design, as well, with the building achieving
LEED for Healthcare Gold certification and designed to meet Austin Energy Green Building Commercial 2-Star certification requirements.
Hospitals looking to achieve LEED certification can get help from
LEED for Healthcare, which provides medical facilities with a roadmap to save energy and reduce waste.
The first
LEED for Healthcare (LEED-HC) certification was recently awarded to a hospital in Puyallup, WA.
Green Building Council's
LEED for Healthcare, available for new and renovated facilities.
Green Building Council's (USGBC) introduction of
LEED for Healthcare, QA Graphics encourages healthcare facilities to share their sustainable accomplishments with patients, staff and visitors.
"I anticipate that
LEED for Healthcare will be a catalyst for Rather market penetration in the health care sector, particularly as the human health and wellness, building performance and business-related benefits associated with green building are more broadly disseminated," says Gaff Vittori, co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, and founding chairwoman of the
LEED for Healthcare Committee.
In the United States, our firm is one of many design companies helping to draft guidelines for the LEED for Neighborhood Development and
LEED for Healthcare Construction pilot programs.
What she's been up to: Co-coordinator of the Green Guide for Health Care and the founding chair of the
LEED for Healthcare core committee through 2009; co-wrote Sustainable Healthcare Architecture in 2008 with colleague Robin Guenther, and the second edition in 2013; worked on Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas as the principal LEED/sustainability consultant for the base building and on its W.H.
At best, they've offered it up as an optional credit." That may be changing, though: Efforts to include acoustical credits in LEED for Schools and
LEED for Healthcare are promising.
With submittal in progress for
LEED for Healthcare Gold certification, it seeks to reduce annual energy costs at least 28 percent below an ASHRAE 90.1-2007 standard.
So rather than mimicking its previous green strategies in the addition, Dell Children's instead opted for the more challenging task of pursuing
LEED for Healthcare (LEED-HC), says Alan Bell, director of design and construction for Seton Healthcare Family, Dell's not-for-profit healthcare organization.