Sustainable Hospital Design
Calgary Health Region Embraces Green Architecture and Design
Jul 24, 2008
Neil Mackenzie is a senior associate in the Calgary operations of HOK, a global planning, architecture and design firm committed to sustainable design. Mackenzie is currently at work on an extension and renovation to the Peter Lougheed Centre on 36th St. in NE Calgary.
The hospital will incorporate up-to-date sustainability features, a first for the Calgary Health Region. HOK recognized 20 years ago that sustainable design is the foundation stone for architecture that meets immediate and long-term societal needs.
Sustainability and the Built Environment
HOK has international expertise in hospital architecture, but this is its first project with the Calgary Health Region; Mackenzie’s team together with Marshall Tittemore Architects has been collaborating with the hospital on finding ways to implement sustainability principles. The health region has subsequently hired a sustainability practitioner to help green its operations.
Like other clients of HOK’s, the CHR decided early on to seek certification from LEED®, the Canada Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. Health authorities have less money than corporate entities to spend on going green, but Mackenzie’s team has been able to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable design. The building will have an efficient mechanical plant to capture 85 percent of the heat from the building’s exhaust air, ensuring this heat isn’t lost. Construction waste is being recycled, and regionally made materials are being used wherever possible to cut down on the costs—financial and environmental—of transporting materials long distance.
Sustainable design on the interior of the building means that employees will be working in a pleasant environment. Low-emitting materials that will not off gas are being used for everything from paint and floor finishes to furniture.
The building has operable windows, meaning fresh air for staff and patients. A long, narrow floor plate ensures lots of natural light throughout. The building’s location also meets LEED accessibility requirements; the hospital is close to public transit, making it easier for employees and patients to access the site.
Features and Advantages of a Sustainable Approach
Having committed to pursuing LEED® certification, the CHR decided to purchase green power for new and existing buildings, one of the ways to acquire credits under the LEED rating system. Mackenzie notes, “Most of the steel is recycled. The fly ash used in the concrete is recycled material from flues and boilers. The addition to the Peter Lougheed Centre is going to set a precedent for future hospital construction. It’s also going to provide a healthier environment for patients and staff.”
One of the advantages of conceiving the building from a sustainable perspective is that the health region’s building costs will not be significantly higher. Most buildings, if designed from the beginning with sustainable features and technologies in mind, can achieve LEED silver status with little additional expenditure. Another advantage is the creation of a healthy workplace. Healthy buildings improve occupant health and employee productivity.
Given the acute labour shortage in Alberta, particularly in health care settings, it is to the local health region’s benefit to maintain facilities that are attractive working environments. Thoughtfully-designed sustainable buildings are known to be workplaces of choice for job seekers and existing staff alike.
High Quality Health Care and Sustainability
Mackenzie is enthusiastic about the long-term benefits of the hospital extension. “This building is a pilot in sustainable design for the CHR. We are targeting a LEED® silver designation. In a hospital, high quality health care trumps every other consideration, but by identifying sustainable design early on in our work together, we’ve been able to achieve our sustainability objectives without sacrificing the budget, schedule or program considerations.”
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