Building green
Our strong commitment to our patients, families, and staff, and the community drives us to create a hospital environment that conserves energy, reduces water consumption, uses renewable resources, and recycles waste. We are using best practices in the industry as outlined by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Guide for Healthcare to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Certified facility that is appropriate, manageable, and meaningful.
Our design team for the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is composed of more than 20 LEED® accredited professionals, all committed to sustainable design practices and continually investigating innovative strategies. We are pleased to share our plans for the green design and construction, and future operation of our facility:
Green design
- Plant and maintain a 13,039 square-foot roof garden.
- Reduce water pollution through storm water management to treat 90 percent of all storm water runoff.
- Integrate light-colored exterior to help minimize the impact of heat on the surrounding area.
- Reduce the overall water usage by 20 percent by using highly efficient plumbing fixtures.
- Reduce energy consumption through a specially designed ventilation system.
- Promote healthy indoor air quality by using 100 percent low-emission adhesives, sealants, paints, coating and carpets.
Green construction
- Reduce soil loss, sedimentation of storm sewers, and air pollution from dust and particle matter during construction.
- Salvage and recycle 50 percent of all demolition and non-hazardous construction materials.
- Use recycled content that represents 10 percent of all building materials.
Green operations
- Reuse up to 15 percent of all medical equipment, minimizing waste and harmful environmental impacts from factory production, assembly and transportation.
- Recycle non-hazardous materials including paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastic and metals.