Right now there is a hospital building “boom”, with $200 billion in projected national renovation expenditures over the next decade. In trying to build LEED certified hospitals, some green technology is insufficient for the standard of sanitation that hospitals demand. For instance, though hospitals can easily install low-flow toilets, they can’t cut back on water usage at the expense of hand-washing hands or general cleanliness. Similarly, hospitals can’t use some air circulation systems because of the potential to spread airborne diseases.

Fiscally, greening hospitals comes at a hard time, during a recession, as they face statutory demands for seismic renovation (in California) and Big Insurance increasingly refuses to pay for services rendered. The fiscal argument is perpetual, but generally not applicable to green changes. It is well proven that with upfront capital (an important element) and wise selection of green projects, going green offers a speedy return on investment via energy savings.

Walter Vernon, a co-owner of hospital construction firm Vernon, Mazzetti & Associates, told the SF Chronicle that hospitals are "… doing the things they can and working very hard to make those things affordable.” Those things still include a broad swath of green choices that better the energy consumption and environmental health of patients. Because of their particularly high energy use, hospitals can pick low-hanging fruit by installing renewable energy systems. For example, installing solar hot water heaters are relatively inexpensive and the devices pay themselves off in a few years. Hospitals can also reinsulate, change lightbulbs and use natural building materials without affecting patient care. If a renovation is going to happen anyway, there is no reason to choose toxicity over sustainability.

Because of the variety of services that hospitals offer, they can make impacts in the cafeteria, by serving local and organic foods; in the laundry department, by choosing ecological laundry services and techniques, and in cleaning, by choosing chemicals that are equally effective but not in themselves carcinogenic. Hospitals can benefit some industries due to their industry customs. Hospitals go through so much short-term, one-time use plastic that choosing bioplastic products makes a lot of sense.

Ultimately, by employing well established green operation and building techniques, hospitals can be as healthful for the environment as they are to people. Nationally, there is a surprising range of well funded NGOs working specifically to green hospitals; independent invention is always a good thing, showing that we're on the right track. 

Photo by Flickr user Tahitianlime