From Guest Blogger Brooke Chaplan: Conserving Space: What are Hospitals Doing Today to Stay Sustainable?

As more people realize the power of their actions on the environment around them, they look for more environmentally conscious solutions. Individuals and businesses alike are choosing materials and practices that are efficient and won’t waste precious resources. Healthcare professionals are no different because amidst all of the emergency surgeries and doctor’s appointments, these facilities have to think about their impact on the environment. Medical providers today are considering many different ways they can improve the sustainability of hospitals and clinics worldwide.

Construction Design
In the U.S., many hospitals are getting green makeovers. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Healthcare Construction (LEED-HC) is a popular system that rates the sustainability of a house or building. Architects are using this system to figure out the “green” status of their new hospitals and are choosing to work with the construction materials and techniques that will not harm the environment.
Regardless of the initial costs, hospitals should include LEED-HC strategies in the construction designs, since these high costs are guaranteed to be paid off in time. For instance, a hospital that integrates an energy-efficient air conditioning system will contribute tens of thousands in savings to their own energy bill, and during the winter, a properly insulated hospital removes the need to power up the heater. In a building properly equipped with LEED-HC designs, the patients and doctors feel comfortable all year round as the hospital saves money in the process.

Daily Processes

While reusable medical materials are always being developed and implemented, sometimes simple business practices are the easiest places to find and cut down on waste. Paper waste in filing and charts are being slowly eliminated as hospitals and clinics switch to digital files. Companies like ADP offer medical billing software programs like AdvancedMD that alert patients of appointments and cut down on paper waste in billing. Other practices and processes are also being modified to reduce company’s carbon footprints like recycling medical waste.
Hospital Food
Farmers and corporate executives understand the importance of healthy, sustainable food and are doing their part to promote healthy food, reduce harm to animals, and minimize damages to the environment. Many hospitals are investing in sustainable food service providers.
Hospital workers are already careful about the types of foods they serve to patients and the public in general. They want clean, safe food, but also want to know how the food is made and where it goes.
Organic companies are working with certain hospitals to sell food that is free of pesticides and chemicals. The food is grown locally and never wasted along the way. Any unused food is recycled instead of discarded in the trash. It is ideal that hospitals work with farmers and food providers that consider environmental health to be important.
In the race to see which businesses are greener, hospitals should not be left out. Clinics all over the world are taking the time to reduce their impact on the environment. In addition to LEED-HC designs and sustainable meals, there are many more ways that hospitals are taking the green initiative. Hospitals are changing and evolving, and by learning from example and experiments, we can see where they go right.