Publication
04.06.2011
Lightness of Being
Redefining Healthcare's Footprint
Bill Millard
Local needs bolster a national trend to redefine healthcare's physical footprint. Jean Mah and Robin Guenther provided commentary for this article in Architect's Healthcare Issue. "Healthcare's not about sickness," Mah says, "so much as about healthy people and communities." Guenther, co-author (with Gail Vittori) of Sustainable Healthcare Architecture (Wiley, 2007) and a member of the LEED for Healthcare Committee (LEED-HC), sees a philosophical shift. A few years ago, "green hospital" was almost a contradiction in terms; hospitals' mission to provide high-quality care overrode concerns about resource conservation. Now, she says, "healthcare understands that delivering high-quality patient care isn't a passport to waste and excessive energy use. It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card. The industry is recognizing that sustainable design is not about deprivation; it's about doing more with less and fundamentally connects to healthcare's core mission to do 'no harm.'"
