Nationally acclaimed environmentally innovative medical facilities and their forward thinking executives deserve recognition for their specific advancements in our industry. Professionals in medical real estate need to align symbiotic strategies reflecting sound development models with "green" practices and theories. In healthcare this attitude not only improves patients' well being, but promotes the hospital's bottom line. Eco-friendly development balances established design and construction philosophies with progressive long-term sustainability models. Newberg Hospital in Oregon and Sherman Health in Illinois are two industry-leading stalwarts.
Newberg Oregon Hospital eliminated the burning of fossil fuels saving the environment from over three million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Newberg Oregon is the birthplace of the nation’s first hospital to operate entirely on green power. The hospital purchases in excess of 2,160,000 kilowatt hours of renewable power annually from Portland's General Electric Clean Wind program. In addition, Newberg's directive implemented processes to reduce solid wastes and increase water efficiency.
Sherman Health of Elgin, Illinois has gone underground. Sherman is one of only two geothermally heated and cooled medical centers in the U.S. By harnessing a renewable energy source to fuel a naturally dependable eco-friendly heat-pump system Sherman estimates annual energy savings of $1,000,000. Although the overall initial investment approximated a 13% premium, manipulating its 15 acre lake into one of the largest lake loop heat-pump systems in the world was strategically an economical windfall. The flexibility, renewability and sustainability of forward thinking non-polluting engineering design compliments the universal mission of healthcare. As if the benefit of minimal greenhouse effects were not positive enough, substantial grants from the U.S Department of Energy and the state of Illinois reaffirmed the initiative for environmentally advantageous medical facilities.
As a medical real estate developer, I look at the viable life of a project over a generation. As an industry we have been integrating "green" realities into the design process for the last decade, albeit slowly. Until recently, the economics were not such that the payback forecast was remarkable enough in the short term to warrant the exposure, but that too is changing. A survey in Building Design + Construction indicated an expected 3-15% premium for operationally beneficial "green" building materials and systems.
From my experience I find this to be true. However, factoring for inducements, incentives, abatements, tax credits and energy savings an educated team can construct near par and save millions for the future.
James Ellis, CEO, Health Care Realty Development Company, is a nationally recognized successful real estate investor and developer of medical office properties with a comprehensive knowledge of sophisticated real estate transactions, cost effective designs, and efficient property management.
Aaron Razavi is Associate Marketing Director at Health Care Realty Development.
Visit their blog at http://www.hcrealty.com/medicalrealestatedevelopment/