New ???Green??? Healthcare Building Standards Open for Public Comment

Two engineering trade groups have drafted a new standard for creating and operating sustainable healthcare facilities, which is now available for public discussion. Categories include energy and water efficiency, emissions, and indoor environmental quality. LEED and the Green Guide for Health Care currently lead industry standards, advocating a variety of sustainable techniques like green roofs (pictured).

Two national engineering trade groups have joined forces to propose a standard for the design, construction and operation of green healthcare facilities.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) produced a draft standard that contains procedures, methods and documentation requirements for the design, construction and operation of sustainable health-care buildings. It would apply to patient-care and related support areas within health-care facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes and licensed outpatient facilities, according to ASHRAE.

The standard covers site sustainability, water-use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and the building???s impact on the atmosphere. In addition, a special section addresses the emissions, effluents and pollution commonly discharged from health-care facilities.

ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 189.3P: Standard for the Design, Construction and Operation of Sustainable, High-Performance Health-Care Facilities is open for public comment through Jan. 21. More information is available at www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.