Only seven projects are LEED-HC certified in the U.S. The USGBC launched the rating system in 2009 and awarded the first certification in April 2013 to a medical office building in Puyallup, Wash. The project was for Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle health care organization. CollinsWoerman, based in Seattle, was the architect for the project and GLY, based in Bellevue, Wash., was the contractor.

In November 2013, Robins & Morton completed a 74,000-square-foot, 53-bed rehabilitation hospital in Ludlow, Mass., for HealthSouth Corporation, which is headquartered in Birmingham. The $27 million HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts was the first Robins & Morton project to achieve LEED-HC.

Before breaking ground in September 2012, HealthSouth; Robins & Morton; and designer Gresham, Smith & Partners, based in Nashville, Tenn., set a goal to obtain LEED-HC Silver certification. As construction progressed, the team picked up additional points due to installation of efficient building systems, generation of renewable energy on site, sourcing a significant percentage of regional and recycled materials, installing materials with a low level of toxins and VOCs and by flushing the building’s HVAC system to improve air quality. Additionally, the owner committed to a series of sustainable practices that would be implemented during operations. The additional points the project team obtained were enough to surpass the silver goal and achieve LEED-HC Gold certification.

“HealthSouth’s goal is to create a hospital environment that meets the highest standards for patient wellness and reduce energy consumption,” said Victoria Healy, chief executive officer of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts, in a statement. “We want to provide the healthiest environment possible for the healing process.”

In June, MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, Maine, which opened in November 2013, became the first health care facility in the state to receive LEED-HC Gold. The project was a joint venture between architects SMRT in Portland, Maine, and Boston-based TRO/Jung Brannen, as well as a joint venture for construction teams at HP Cummings Construction Company in Ware, Mass., and Robins & Morton.

“Our company-wide policies such as our jobsite waste management policy, sustainable jobsites policy, and environmental and stormwater management policy ensure our teams are committed to protecting the environment on every project,” said Jackie Mustakas, Robins & Morton’s corporate sustainability coordinator, in a statement. “These policies serve as our foundation for sustainable construction and ensure sustainable jobsite measures are a routine part of our company culture.”

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The 192-bed community hospital consolidated the inpatient services of MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer campus and the hospital on the medical center’s Augusta campus. To complete the 640,000-square-foot center for health in 24 months of construction, which included 18 months of deign and construction overlap, the design team used an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method.

The design was headed by SMRT Inc., which holds offices in Portland, Maine, in partnership with Boston-based TRO JB. Contractors Robins & Morton of Birmingham, Ala., in a joint venture with H.P. Cummings of Winthrop, Maine, led construction.

“The common wisdom is that IPD is about collaboration, but it goes well beyond collaboration to a unity of purpose around a common goal. Collaboration implies parties agreeing to ‘play well in the sandbox,’ but for all practical purpose, the parties remain in their silos representing the interests of their individual organizations,” said Ellen Belknap, president of SMRT, in a statement. “Successful IPD requires unity, with all parties aligned to the goals and the good of the project, not to the organization and individual representatives. This requires a fundamental shift in approach attitude and behavior, creating a virtual single-purpose entity and integrated team with a common goal.”

According to the American Institute of Architects, leverages early contributions of knowledge and expertise through the use of new technologies, allowing all teams to better realize their highest potentials while expanding the value they provide throughout the project lifecycle. A multi-party contract, required by IPD, allowed the owner, designers and contractors to jointly manage the project.

This sharing of responsibilities and goals was a catalyst in achieving goals, including targeting LEED Gold certification rather than the initial LEED Silver goal. Utility costs in the new hospital are expected to be less than half of costs at the former health care facility.

“The IPD process drove the LEED certification from our goal of Silver to meeting the requirements for LEED Gold,” said Kate Everett, senior engineer at SMRT, in a statement. “With the design and contractor team working as a single entity throughout the design process and construction period, we were able to introduce and execute innovative strategies, like ice storage, very efficiently.”

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