Study: Health Care Administrators Favor Green Construction

Nearly two-thirds of health care and hospital administrators believe that sustainability will change the way health care buildings are designed and constructed, according to a recent study.

The study, “The Health Care Green Building SmartMarket Report,” examines the increasing trend toward green building in the $23.7 billion health care construction market and highlights the driving factors behind that trend.

Conducted by McGraw Hill and sponsored by Turner Construction Company, Johns Manville and the U.S. Green Building Council, the report is based on a survey of 95 health care and hospital administrators and executives.

Of those polled, 91 percent believe improved medical facilities and staff and patient well-being to be the primary motivators for using sustainable design in hospitals.

Energy savings is also a factor behind the shift toward green hospitals and clinics; 64 percent of health care executives and administrators estimate an energy savings of more than 10 percent from using sustainable design.

Internal management and architectural firms are thought to have the most influence on the rise of green design in the health care market. Guides and systems, such as the Green Guide for Health Care and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED system, have also had an impact on the health care construction market.

Of those who have used the Green Guide, 78 percent considered it to be useful; 76 percent found LEED helpful, according to the report.

The study shows that 19 percent of administrators expect their organization to be involved with sustainable building in 2008 — three times as many as were expected in 2007.

The report also revealed some obstacles to green building perceived by the health care industry. More than half of respondents consider the lack of information about sustainable design to be the biggest hurdle in the effort to go green.

Many health care executives perceive sustainable building as a costly endeavor without a significant return on investment, the report states. A third of respondents find the lack of a LEED program specifically tailored to the health care market to be an obstacle as well.