Health care facilities get new LEED-HC rating

WASHINGTON — There will soon be a fair way to evaluate hospitals and other health care facilities that want to go green; it is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Healthcare (LEED-HC), according to the Michigan Business Review.

LEED-HC, which is focused on design issues and conditions specific to the health care industry and incorporates elements of the Green Guide for Healthcare, is expect to roll out in mid-2009, the story stated.

According to the story, one of the biggest concerns with LEED-HC is mercury elimination and the reduction of other persistent bioaccumulative toxins.

Dan Haas, development manager for Skanska USA Building, said: "Does that mean LEED-HC is easier? No. What it means is that LEED-HC is specific to the health care industry. It looks at energy differently, it looks at water differently, it looks at staff use and indoor environmental quality-type issues differently — things that typically give health care facilities trying to be certified in the LEED for new construction system hurdles."

One of the additions in the current draft of LEED-HC is a credit for equipment efficiency, which encourages facilities to use equipment that is EnergyStar rated in the top 25 percent of performance, the story noted.

Daylight and views credits, which refers to providing a connection between general indoor spaces and the outdoors and had been particularly tough for the health care industry under the old version of LEED, will be broken down into three different areas in LEED-HC: Diagnostic and treatment areas; inpatient units; and daylight quality, the story added.

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