Hospital Achieves LEED Platinum Certification
Obtaining LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org, Washington, D.C., is not an easy task. A lot of planning and preparation—not to mention technology—goes into constructing or renovating an energy-efficient building.
Specifically, hospitals are tremendous energy users, operating all the time. This can make it a bit more difficult to achieve a high-level LEED certification.
Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, www.dellchildrens.net, Austin, Texas, recently achieved LEED Platinum Certification. Two categories that were key to attaining some points were Energy & Atmosphere and Indoor Environmental Quality. The healthcare provider found building automation technology could help improve these critical areas.
Building automation gives contractors, owners, and facility managers the ability to reduce the energy of a building through lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) controls, among others.
The hospital implemented the APOGEE Building Automation System from the Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry, www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies, Buffalo Grove, Ill.
The technology helped improve the fundamental building systems and minimum energy performance in the Energy & Atmosphere category. The building automation system additionally improved the minimum indoor air quality requirements.