With significant growth taking place on the Michigan Medicine campus, incorporating sustainability and energy reduction efforts into building design is one of the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
This practice not only reduces energy resource use, it saves on energy costs and lowers carbon dioxide emissions.
Going Green with LEED
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, people spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors. Environmentally-friendly buildings typically have better indoor air quality and lighting.
Michigan Medicine requires all new buildings, additions and construction projects with a budget of $10,000,000 or more to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver level. LEED is one of most widely accepted international rating systems for measuring the environmental impact of new construction.
By meeting LEED standards, we are able to support the implementation of sustainable design concepts for new construction.
Specifically, designing LEED certified buildings helps UMHHC to achieve:
- energy savings
- water efficiency
- reduced CO2 emissions
- improved indoor environmental quality
- stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts
The new C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital received LEED Silver level certification.
Sustainability features of the building include:
- Construction waste management: 93% of waste on the job site has been recycled.
- No wax floors: rubber flooring is being used to eliminate the need for wax and to improve walking and standing environments for patients, families and staff.
- Green roof has been placed on top of the building to reduce heating and cooling costs and water runoff issues.
- Hepa filters for nearly all areas of the building will improve air quality for patients and staff.
- Occupancy sensors will be placed in rooms to ensure reduced energy needs when rooms are not in use.
Green roof photos
Raising the Bar
We continually strive to be leaders in sustainability. This is evident in our voluntary commitment for LEED Silver certification in new buildings, our commitment for major projects to be 30% more energy efficient than state standards, and our everyday practices for sustainability and energy conservation in all UMHHC projects and operations.
Several sections of our Design Guidelines for Design and Construction outline UMHHC’s detailed requirements related to energy efficiency as well as sustainable design and environmental stewardship: