Martha's Vineyard Hospital, a Partner's Healthcare affiliate, recently celebrated the award of LEED Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the construction of their new "green" replacement hospital. Working with the architect, Thomas, Miller & Partners, as well as the hospital, Columbia Construction Co. captained the entire LEED process. "What really led to the success of achieving LEED Gold on this project was the fact that the Hospital in addition to the island community were very committed to sustainability from day-one." said Neil Lemieux, director of preconstruction at Columbia Const. "With the island's limited natural resources, the Hospital and local community were committed to various conservation measures and helped drive the sustainability strategy on this project from the beginning - it was really a true team effort."
With this LEED Gold award, Martha's Vineyard Hospital is the only LEED Gold Hospital in the state of Mass. according to the USGBC's database.
Martha's Vineyard Hospital's new, 90,000 s/f facility opened in the summer of 2010 and features two floors of efficient, centralized, state-of-the-art services and technology and includes operating rooms, a medical/surgical unit, intensive care unit, physical therapy department, an emergency department, and medical imaging/laboratories. By nature, hospitals are not well suited for compliance with many of the LEED (for new construction) requirements due to their complex building systems and components. However, with a focused sustainable approach carried-out by the entire team, the project was able to achieve a LEED Gold rating.
Sustainable building elements include an array of over 200 solar photovoltaic panels that provide the hospital with 45 kilowatts of power. Other features include a rooftop healing garden which functions as a "wellness" area for patients. The LEED Gold facility also includes multiple water saving and energy saving technologies, which resulted in 36% and 25% respective savings. In addition, over 80% of the waste generated during the demolition and construction of this project was diverted from landfills, and 41% of building materials and supplies were purchased from companies located within 500 miles of the project site.
Another important LEED credit included a Connection to the Natural World, Places of Healing and Respite. As an affiliate of the Planetree Model of Care, Martha's Vineyard Hospital was able to meet this innovative credit by incorporating many Planetree patient-focused elements into the new facility that enhanced patient healing; including views, natural light, privacy, and access to healing gardens.