Geisinger Health Systems Completes First LEED Certified Health Care Building In PA

The newly constructed Gray’s Woods Ambulatory Care facility by Geisinger Health Systems in State College is the only healthcare facility in Pennsylvania and one of only seven in the nation to achieve LEED Gold green building certification.

 

Alexander Building Construction Company completed the project for Geisinger.

 

The building is a two-story, 64,000 square foot multi-specialty clinic. The facility includes treatment for ophthalmology, radiology, urology, cardiac care, pediatrics, family care, women’s care, ear, nose & throat and other procedures. The facility opened in August 2008 and received the LEED certification in January.

 

Geisinger Health System, a recognized leader in healthcare and an innovator in healthcare technology, is committed to the green building movement. Geisinger hired EwingCole of Philadelphia to design the Gray’s Woods building and campus.

 

“The green credo – energy-efficient buildings full of features that stress the natural over the chemical, the recycled over the new and the renewable over the finite – is evident in the new Gray’s Woods facility,” according to EwingCole’s project architect, Patrick Brunner. “We pursued the green building concept because it is simply the right thing to do,” explained Brunner, “Our goal was to create a building that is efficient, pleasing to both employees and patients and has minimal environmental impact in the community – which I believe we accomplished as evidenced by the gold rating.”

 

According to Bud Price, Geisinger’s Associate Vice President for Regional Operations, “utilizing green technology and construction materials added no more than 1-2 percent to costs,” adding that “Geisinger stands to recapture those costs in energy savings. Studies show that green buildings have a value beyond energy savings. Organizations are documenting less absenteeism and less time lost to allergies and illnesses aggravated by mold and chemical odors associated with traditional buildings,” Price added.

 

Green features at Geisinger-Gray’s Woods include:

 

-- Extensive use of natural daylight to reduce dependency on electric lighting;

 

-- Lighting control system that dims the lights when there is natural daylight available and turns off

lights in unoccupied areas;

 

-- High-efficiency heating and cooling systems, along with building orientation and effective use of windows to make the facility 30 percent more efficient than industry standards;

 

-- Efficient plumbing fixtures that save almost 150,000 gallons of water per year over standard plumbing fixtures;

 

-- Locally obtained building materials, with more than 20 percent coming from within 500 miles of the site;

 

-- Non-toxic paint and finishes;

 

-- Recycled materials used in construction (16 percent) and 295 tons of construction debris (80 percent) diverted from a landfill;

 

-- Storm water runoff control features;

 

-- Eco-roof of soil and native plants to slow runoff and curb the “heat island” effect of sunshine beating down on conventional roofs;

 

-- Building “skin” of high efficiency glass to maximize energy savings and interior light;

 

-- Fresh air ventilation, air filtration systems, and careful selection of building materials to provide high indoor air quality;

 

-- Landscaping that uses native plants, requires no irrigation and reduces the amount of lawn maintenance and run-off from fertilizers;

 

-- A wooded ridge line that helps exceed the open space zoning requirement by 25 percent; and

 

-- Bicycle storage, showers and locker rooms for employees who bike to work.

 

“We are extremely proud of the gold rating Geisinger’s building received from the United States Green Building Council and are proud to have built the first LEED gold rated healthcare building in Pennsylvania,” said Rick Seitz, President of Alexander. Seitz also noted, “It is a tribute to the commitment that our employees have made to the sustainable and green construction effort. As a company, we have embraced the USGBC’s movement in this regard, and many of our employees have become innovative in adapting the LEED design and construction effort into our construction management approach. This has really benefited our customers and design partners who desire sustainable buildings and a LEED rating.”

 

In closing, Rick Seitz said, “We’ve made a significant investment to be of value to owners and designers in facilitating the LEED process. We have 19 LEED Accredited Professionals on staff and our experience is growing rapidly. Our enterprise has been ranked among Engineering News Record’s Top 50 Green Contractors for the past two years and is currently managing twelve construction projects valued at $170 million which are seeking LEED certification.”

 

For more information, visit the Gray’s Woods webpage and the Geisinger Health Systems website.