Everyone agrees that the role of hospitals and other healthcare institutions in society is to help maintain the health of its citizens. However, the Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco believes in going beyond its normal duties by doing its part in keeping the planet healthy by creating an environmentally-conscious space for healing and recovery – an act that led to its U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program's silver certification in 2010.
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source: arup.com
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Recognized as California's first LEED-certified hospital, the 167-year-old Laguna Honda Hospital underwent many changes to curb the negative environmental impact through a redesign that was completed in 2010. According to Marc Slavin, the hospital's government and community relations director at the time, the renovation and new construction focused on energy savings, greenhouse gas reduction, water conservation, improvement of indoor air quality, and the creation of open spaces, among others.
To achieve those objectives, the intensive design plan involved:
-Installing roofing materials, windows, and insulation all of which eventually helped control air conditioning and heating requirements
-Creating an efficient water system that reduced evaporation rates to save gallons of water,
-Using building materials with no irritating and harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as recycled materials like concrete and asphalt
-Encouraging responsible travel by installing bike racks and using alternative fuel or electric-powered vehicles for its fleets
-Adopting "green" cleaning chemicals and participating in San Francisco's waste management program.
Additionally, the hospital also built 10 landscaped therapeutic gardens to provide patients, long-term residents, and staff members secure, beautiful, peaceful, and accessible restorative green spaces.
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These innovative improvements to Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center’s 62-acre campus led to its becoming the first ever green-certified hospital in the state. This, in addition to its many unique and high-quality services such as being the only skilled nursing facility for HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area, having recognized programs for restorative care and memory care, and offering monolingual services for Spanish and Chinese-speakers, have made it an excellent example to other healthcare institutions in California.
Marc Slavin played a part in organizing Laguna Honda Hospital's transition and re-branding. For updates on Mr. Slavin's professional activities, visit this LinkedIn page.
