HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — Northwell Health’s Huntington Hospital Emergency Department (ED) officially earned LEED Gold certification in July with the help of CannonDesign and Hunter Roberts Construction Group — both of which have offices in New York.

Established in 1916, Huntington Hospital is a full-service, 408-bed, nonprofit community hospital serving Huntington Township and surrounding communities. Huntington Hospital has been a member of Northwell Health since 1994 and “shares the system’s vision of being a pre-eminent healthcare delivery system in the tradition of excellence and the embodiment of community values and human dignity,” according to the hospital’s website.

LEED positively evaluated the emergency department across key criteria related to sustainability including materials used, energy use and water efficiency, according to a statement from the architect.

“Achieving LEED Gold certification is a significant achievement for Northwell Health and its Huntington Hospital,” said Rich Kahn, CannonDesign’s New York office practice leader, in a statement. “They established LEED Silver as a goal from the outset of the project and through collaboration and design creativity the ED exceeded that initial target. It’s always rewarding for our firm to partner with organizations who demonstrate such a strong commitment to sustainability, and we’re proud of our work with Northwell Health.”

The key design features and green elements that helped the emergency department achieve LEED Gold certification included extensive water use–reduction strategies, energy-efficient materials and systems, access to natural daylight, a focus on enhanced commissioning, low-emittance materials throughout and construction waste management. Collectively, these sustainable design features have created a healthier environment in which patients can receive care and staff can deliver care. This translates to a more rewarding patient experience for everyone involved.

Huntington Hospital sought to significantly increase its ED treatment volume while improving efficiency and patient outcomes to meet the community’s rapidly growing needs, according to CannonDesign’s statement. Huntington’s existing ED needed to maintain operations during construction; therefore, phasing was carefully planned to expand throughput, minimize disruption to ED operations and ensure no negative impact on the patient experience. One of 21 community-based hospitals in the Northwell Health network, Huntington Hospital now features an expanded ED that has doubled in space and has greatly improved the stream of patients, visitors and staff into and through the unit.

The hospital has also implemented what it calls a “super-track” model in the emergency department to efficiently manage wait times and reduce the length of stays for patients.

“The split-flow, super-track model is a system that filters patients between acute and lower-acuity care areas in order to more effectively manage patient wait times and reduce length of stay. This helps patients receive the type of care they require in a more efficient and effective manner,” said Robert Masters, New York health market leader of CannonDesign.

The new ED is advantageously positioned to connect with the standing hospital on the first-floor level, within close proximity to the radiology department and lab services, and with many other key program adjacencies that will facilitate future development. The ED visually anchors the existing hospital building and creates a new reference point for the campus. In addition to providing a new entrance, it constitutes a link with the original hospital pavilion by flanking the current main entry drop-off. Large corner windows provide natural light and scenic views.

Masters explained that other hospitals can use Huntington’s ED as a model for future healthcare facility expansions.

“The sustainable strategies represented in Huntington Hospital’s emergency department can be seized by other facilities when organizations engage design firms well versed in sustainable design strategy. Each facility is unique and thus requires a unique design solution, but sustainable design is always possible,” concluded Masters.

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The hospital’s green strategy has situated the institution to gain a certified level of recognition in the U.S. Green Building Council’s and Green Business Certification Inc.’s LEED program this past July, according to a statement.

The design of the hospital’s $450 million headquarters, which opened last September, granted the opportunity to create a campus that would advance from top to bottom on the environmental efficiency of the old building. The 650,000-square-foot-structure was expected to use 12 percent less in utilities than comparably sized hospitals — an efficiency goal that hospital officials said they are already exceeding.

“It’s a smart business decision to save energy,” said Stanley Hunter, the project director for the hospital’s master plan program, in the Stamford Advocate. “If you think about it from the very beginning, it’s not costing more.”

The hospital’s exterior echoes the emphasis on sustainability, with terracotta panels covering the lower part of the building. The terracotta is more energy efficient than brick, because it does not trap and transfer heat into the building, which results in less energy needed for cooling. With a similar objective, the new building’s roof is white, so it reflects rather than absorbs sunlight.

Lowering the use of energy helps to produce a more comfortable environment, hospital officials said, with the new building’s control system turning down the lights on patient floors at night to create a quieter ambiance while also using less wattage.

“With that type of control system, you automatically have both the advantage of a better patient experience, plus energy savings,” Hunter said to the Stamford Advocate. “It’s a win-win.”

The approximately 35,000-square-foot Central Utility plant, which opened in January 2014, also helps maintain energy-cost savings. A tunnel lined with utility tubes and wiring leads to the heart of the hospital’s energy-conserving operations, designed to serve the new buildings more resourcefully than its former hub. Running on natural gas, the boiler and chiller is monitored digitally to make sure it is only expending as much as energy as possibly needed.

“We used to burn No. 6 oil,” said plant operations supervisor Terence Brady. “But it’s not cost-effective and not the green synergy we’re trying to promote.”

Hospital officials said they maintain a close watch over the plant’s systems, which work at prolific rates, according to a statement. One boiler produces almost 13,000 pounds of steam per hour.

“We’re constantly having [the boilers] tested for their efficiency,” said Michael Smeriglio, the hospital’s executive director of facilities management in the Stamford Advocate. “We have an optimization package, which controls the motor — it’s reading the temperature and flame output and reading the amount of gas going in. We’re not using more than what we need.”

On the hospital’s third level, the exact conservation principles apply in the 40,000-square-foot mechanical floor. Air handlers use “variable speed technology” motors that spin as fast as necessary. If less air is needed, the motors slow down to save energy.

However, data on the new building’s total utility output and costs was not immediately available.

Approximately 980 healthcare projects are certified nationwide, while 1,835 are waiting to earn certification. Connecticut has 270 LEED-certified commercial properties and another 364 waiting for certification. Across the U.S., about 64,500 projects are certified or working towards certification.

“One of the main tenets of LEED is human health and the belief that buildings can have an impact on our health,” said Theresa Backus, a technical specialist in the building council’s LEED department. “We believe buildings that are designed to be more sustainable are healthier buildings.”

Stamford Hospital officials envision applying other innovations when they become financially possible. The Central Utility Plant could accommodate a co-generation system, which would recycle utility emissions. Heat byproducts, for instance, could be reused to warm up boiler water.

“You’d using less energy to warm up the water in boilers,” Smeriglio said in the Stamford Advocate. “We’d want to use every waste product off the co-generation.”

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The LEED for Healthcare green building rating system is an arrangement of guidelines and performance standards for certifying health care facilities. The goal is to promote clean, healthy, affordable, durable and environmentally friendly practices into the construction and design of the building. The rating system consists of points or credits accumulated by saving energy, having accessible public transportation and mitigating the effects of stormwater runoff.

To earn LEED certification, a health care project must fulfill all prerequisites and qualify for a minimum number of credits. After the credits are calculated, the facility gets receives a Silver, Gold or Platinum rating. The design of the building is particularly important, but the interior components also play a significant role in achieving LEED certification in a hospital setting. Here are six prerequisites to consider when attempting to achieve LEED for health care.

Sustainable Sites

The site on which the facility sits is one of the most important considerations when it comes to the relationship between the health care facility and the environment. LEED for health care aims to strengthen this relationship by minimizing facility impacts on its neighboring habitat.

Water Efficiency

Water usage has sadly become something that many take for granted. Long showers, flushing a toilet or even brushing one’s teeth consume more water than we generally realize. Sustaining water is a key aspect in achieving LEED certification. For this reason, it is important to look at ways to reduce consumption or choose the correct products and materials that can help reach this goal.

Energy & Atmosphere

The burning of fossil fuels is known to be a key contributor in the production of carbon dioxide. Understanding new approaches to alleviate stresses on the atmosphere is a main focus for achieving sustainability.

Materials & Resources

When it comes to materials and resources, LEED wants facilities to consider materials that will have less impact on the environment by using recyclable content such as green flooring. This type of flooring is sustainably harvested from environmentally friendly, reclaimed sources. Options include bio-based tile, carpet and carpet tiles, terrazzo and polished concrete.

Indoor Air Quality

Air quality is important to every facility, yet it may be even more important when it comes to a health care facility. In a place designed to promote healing, air-quality issues should to be non-existent.

Innovation & Design

Innovation and design targets the use of new ideas and techniques for green design and construction. Required prerequisites include project planning and design to maximize opportunities for integrated, cost-effective adoption of green design and construction strategies. Credits can include innovation in design, which provides design teams and projects the opportunity to achieve performance above the requirements set by the LEED rating system.

By focusing on these topics that LEED for health care covers — as well as other facility-specific sustainability goals — your facility will establish itself as a site that promotes clean and healthy practices, both indoors and out. Not only will you be increasing the quality of the patient’s experience, but you can also obtain benefits that come along with following sustainable standards.

Mitchell Bryant is the communications specialist at Spectra Contract Flooring.

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