Medical Construction & Design

SEP-OCT 2017

Medical Construction & Design (MCD) is the industry's leading source for news and information and reaches all disciplines involved in the healthcare construction and design process.

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MCDM AG.COM | SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2017 | Medical Construction & Design 25 Diving deeper into the language of sustainability BY KELSIE WHITTINGTON The 104,000-square-foot Community Cancer Center North in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sustainable terms and acronyms seem to be multiplying by the day. In addition to LEED, there are many other certifi cation programs such as WELL, 3Star, BREEAM, DGNB, Dubai GBRS, Estidama and SKArating that evaluate sustainability in diff erent project types and regions. And if all that alphabet soup isn't enough, within those certifi cation programs, designers need to also recognize Health Product Declarations and Environmental Product Declarations when developing a new, sus- tainable facility. It is crucial to understand these certifi cations and their impact on a client's buildings. LEED v4 dives deep into HPDs and EPDs, a category only touched on by previous versions of LEED. HPDs are designed to complement EPDs. Both are important when determining indoor air quality and the eff ects buildings have on the environment. As architects, especially in healthcare, we need to request HPDs from manufacturers. Manufacturers are often hesitant to disclose this informa- tion for proprietary reasons, which is why there are certain standards in place that allow only the disclosure of chemicals that impact health. HPDs clarify what information is shared and what is not. This transparency helps designers choose the right material and best products. EPDs, in a lifecycle as- sessment, show the environmental impact a certain product or material will have. Assessments show a material's eff ect from acquisition and manufacturing, to end of life and recycling. Sifting through the acronym soup

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