Green Design
Green from the Ground Up
In keeping with the values of our community, our new facilities will be built according to the best environmental practices. In the hopes of achieving LEED healthcare designation, notoriously difficult for a hospital to achieve, we have taken the following important measures:
- Storm Water Design: Storm water runoff increases pollution and disrupts the natural flow of water through the environment. We capture and treat storm water runoff to limit this negative impact.
- Energy Performance: In order to reduce the environmental and economic impact of our energy use, we have increased our level of energy performance beyond the standard and installed photovoltaic panels on one of our parking structures.
- Green Materials: We used low-emitting materials, adhesives, sealants, paints and flooring to ensure that our hospital is a healthy, safe, and environmentally friendly environment.
- Water-Efficient Landscaping: We save a significant amount of water by selecting drought-resistant plants and limiting the use of potable water for landscape irrigation.
About LEED Certification
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Based on a numerical rating system, LEED provides independent, third party verification that a structure was designed and built using green and sustainable strategies. LEED assesses the following aspects of a finished structure:
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Sustainable sites
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Water efficiency
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Energy and atmosphere
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Materials and resources
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Indoor air quality
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Innovation in design
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Regional priority
The hospital replacement is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a new construction project. We are working with Green Building Services, a team of consultants specializing in the LEED healthcare requirements. All key members of the hospital team are currently LEED certified. In addition, the architects are working from the healthcare-specific best practices outlined in the Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC). The planning outlined above will result in a sustainable, highly rated LEED-certified design.
Environmental Impact Reporting
In accordance with state law, the Marin Healthcare District prepared an environmental impact report for the proposed MarinHealth Replacement Building Project. Click on one of the below links to view the: