They've become the “motherhood” and “apple pie” of the construction industry: the terms “sustainability” and “evidence-based design.” So it shouldn't be too surprising when design firms create a position that combines these attributes into one job: the sustainable design coordinator. But how does it work?
Sara Mills-Knapp seems perfectly cast as someone whose work would provide the answer to that question. A 2004 graduate of American University, she came to green design via the tourism and investment fields. Having explored the tenets and burgeoning evidence of environmental policy at the university and in those fields, she is applying them now to one of the most environmentally sensitive sectors of the American economy: building construction, appropriately including healthcare building. For Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Tsoi/Kobus and Associates, she has provided green guidance for such healthcare-related clients as Boston Medical Center; the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview; and Duke University Medical Center. Certified as a LEED AP for the past year and a half, she is studying for her master's degree in sustainable design. Recently Healthcare Building Ideas Editor Richard L. Peck asked her to review this new position, including its potential impact on healthcare clients and on her own firm.
Richard L. Peck: Do you see your job as combining sustainability and evidence-based design?
Sara Mills-Knapp, LEED AP: They certainly are overlapping concerns. The main idea is to integrate sustainable design into everyday practice and provide a centralized resource that is very much needed in the field these days. This is especially true with LEED certification becoming much more common as a basic guideline and a standard goal in this field.
Peck: Do you think LEED certification has become an accepted baseline in healthcare design?
Mills-Knapp: I can't think of one project during the past year for which LEED wasn't a factor, whether LEED certification or using LEED Silver criteria as the baseline for a design. We don't focus exclusively on the LEED checklist-it is only a tool, and our approach is more holistic-but LEED criteria are becoming a baseline.
Peck: How are you involved in the overall design process?
