Green Guide for Health Care Calls for Public for Comments
The Green Guide for Health Care has just launched a public comment draft of our revised Operations section.
Please download the updated document and submit comments (both constructive and supportive) online. Both the download and the public comment webtool are located in the secure area on our website: http://www.gghc.org. Deadline for public comments is May 16, 2008.
See below for the full press release. Please forward it to anyone you think would be interested in submitting public comments.
Revised Green Guide for Health Care Operations Section Launched
for Public Comment
Updated section of the best practices toolkit focuses
on continuous improvement in facilities operations. Public comment
period open through May 16, 2008.
The most significant revision to the Green Guide for Health Care
Version 2.2 Operations section to date is released for public
comment. Visit http://www.gghc.org to
download the toolkit and submit your comments.
"The revised Operations section heralds a new era in
sustainable facilities operations in health care," said Adele
Houghton, AIA, Project Manager of the Green Guide for Health
Care. "The expanded scope and revised organization around departmental
work will appeal to operational facilities eager to establish their
leadership in environmental excellence."
The Green Guide for Health Care, a project of the Center
for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Practice Greenhealth established
in 2002, is the first voluntary, best practices green building and
operations toolkit customized for the health care sector, using the LEED Green
Building Rating System, with permission, and offering tips and tools for
adding healing design and facilities operations features, energy and water efficiency
strategies, and safer materials to the health care setting. To
date, the Green Guide has attracted more than 18,000 website
registrants, and 150 registered projects representing more
than 34 million square feet of green health care facilities
in the U.S. and abroad, 60% of which are pursuing or have pursued
the Operations section in tandem with new construction,
additions and renovation projects. These facilities are integrating
the Green Guide's enhanced environmental and health principles
and practices into their planning, design, construction, operations
and maintenance.
Building on the experience of the Green Guide's roster of
registered projects, a volunteer committee of professionals representing
a broad spectrum of health care sector perspectives, and technical experts
and representatives from membership organizations such as the American
Society for Healthcare Environmental Services (ASHES) and the Association
for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC),
the update emphasizes continuous improvement and frames best
practices in operations and maintenance protocols, keeping abreast of
the momentum in policy and practice towards green building and operations methods
and materials. These strategies yield measurable improvements in enhancing
a facility's health and environmental performance.
Highlights include:
- A more user-friendly tool - Strategies are now grouped by facility department.
- Up to date - Updated regulatory standards, best practices, and resources reflecting the most current available information, including alignment with the 2008 revision of LEED® for Existing Buildings-Operations and Maintenance rating system, with permission, where applicable.
- Expanded scope - Emerging priorities in health care operations and maintenance are reflected in the update, including emissions reporting, low-impact grounds maintenance, sustainable food service, and multi-attribute environmentally preferable purchasing policies.
- Emphasis on continuous improvement - The self-certifying nature of the GGHC lends itself to continuous improvement. The revised Operations section emphasizes goal setting and establishing ongoing environmental programs by requiring periodic performance evaluations and outlining aspirational innovation points for industry leaders.
- Emphasis on Integrated Operations and Education - Strategies focus on establishing a cross-departmental structure governing environmental programs and emphasizing ongoing education of staff, patients and visitors, and the general public on the connection between greening a facility's operations and human health.
Due to the extensive nature of the GGHC Operations review process,
the revised toolkit has been released for a 30-day public comment
period beginning April 16, 2008 through midnight Pacific Daylight
Time on May 16, 2008. Visit http://www.gghc.org to
download the toolkit and submit comments.
The Green Guide for Health Care is a joint project of the
Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Practice Greenhealth. Sponsors
are Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), Merck Family Fund,
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA),
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and Southern California Edison.