Raising the bar for sustainable design and actual measured energy performance, Muskogee Community Hospital in Oklahoma has become the first and only hospital to receive both Designed to Earn ENERGY STAR and ENERGY STAR certification based on actual performance.
In other words, this highly energy-efficient 114,782-square-foot LEED Gold certified facility was not only designed to operate at low energy levels, but it has actually been documented as using 24% less energy and emitting 24% less carbon dioxide, after a year of operations, as compared to other hospitals.
Reflecting back on the process involved in achieving such a goal, Mark Roberts, MCH president, explains, “Once we realized that we could strengthen the delivery of medical services and patient wellness by improving environmental performance, pursuing ENERGY STAR became much easier for us. A facility that is energy-friendly is also very patient-friendly, as the energy cost-savings allowed more resources to be focused on each patient.”
At the forefront of the 45-bed acute care facility’s sustainable strategy—designed by architect Bates LZW, M/E/P engineer Martin Engineering Design, and contractor Aardex—is a closed loop ground source geothermal system that provides for all the hospital’s heating and cooling needs.
The team also specified ultraviolet lights in each of the 78 heating and air conditioning units to eliminate more than 99% of airborne bacteria. Meanwhile, sophisticated building controls measure each unit’s output, temperature, and functionality.
“Also, each operating and procedure room has been outfitted with UV-C systems to further sterilize those rooms by killing all surface bacteria reached by the strategically engineered placement and engineered lights in the ceilings of the operating and procedure rooms,” Roberts says.
Additional green design highlights include:
