ABSTRACT
Healthcare institutions are embracing commitments to environmentally friendly building design by pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and LEED for Healthcare, which incorporates the unique rules, regulations and operating conditions of sustainable healthcare environments. The impact of using LEED standards in healthcare facilities has important implications for the brand and brand elements that are communicated through facilities. Chapter 10 describes the sustainable facility design guidelines that align leadership priorities with environmental health practices in the planning, design and construction of facilities, as well as their impact upon the institution’s brand.
Sustainability is a desirable brand element for employees and the various publics served by healthcare organizations. Brand is one of several advantages accruing to hospitals that choose sustainable building design. Having a visibly sustainable building is, at a very practical level, one durable strategy for building sustainability into the hospital’s brand.
Creating sustainable buildings is a natural extension of healthcare’s mission to “first, do no harm.” Healthcare organizations that pursue this mission and have committed to being world-class providers simply cannot ignore the profound, measurable effects that sustainable hospital environments have on healing.
