When Baylor Medical Center at McKinney opens in July 2012, the hospital will be the first LEED or green building among Baylor’s four Collin County hospitals, and eligible to apply for LEED accreditation for environmentally conscious or “green” building design.
Baylor McKinney will open as a 95-bed, full-service, acute care hospital at the northwest corner of University (Highway 380) and Lake Forest Drive. As part of Baylor’s long-range plans, the hospital structure can add additional floors, increasing number of beds to 400 as community growth warrants. The campus also has an adjacent medical office building for private physician practices.
The LEED green building rating system -- developed and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council www.usgbc.org , a Washington D.C.-based, nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders -- is designed to promote design and construction practices that increase profitability while reducing the negative environmental impacts of buildings and improving occupant health and well-being.
Baylor McKinney will apply to this organization for the LEED accreditation after the July opening.
“I am excited about the innovation Baylor brings to this community with our LEED building and the
health care services we will provide,” says Scott Peek, Baylor McKinney president. “Just as Baylor wants to be good stewards of its medical resources, we want to manage our environmental impact, too.”
To become eligible to be a LEED certified building, the design and construction team focused on six aspects to earn necessary points to quality as LEED certified: site, water efficiency, material resources, indoor environmental quality, energy/atmosphere, and innovations to design process.
“Based on these six criteria, buildings eligible to be certified as “green” receive a score determined by the building site and functional aspects of the building,” says Michael Barksdale, senior project manager, CBRE Healthcare Services. “For example, this hospital will have a 35 percent reduction in water usage when compared to other hospitals of similar size. This efficiency was created by installing water-saving sinks, showers, and toilets.”
More than 20 percent of the construction materials used by subcontractors were regional materials that came from within 500 miles of the construction site. Another 20 percent of the construction materials had recycled content. Building materials, such as composite woods, adhesives, carpeting and paint, contain a reduced amount of volatile organic compounds. To keep the building as clean as possible during its construction, the crew encased the building’s ductwork in plastic to reduce the likelihood of dust entering ductwork system. Any dust in the ductwork will be removed before building is occupied.
The building’s highly efficient heating and cooling systems rate well above those used in retail construction. Plus, at end of first year’s operation, Baylor McKinney will conduct a comfort study to ensure its system meets criteria, and to fine-tune any unsatisfactory areas. This study also measures how a LEED certified building compares to a building of conventional construction.
Even the manner in which people chose to travel to Baylor McKinney plays a role in creating a green building. Baylor McKinney will provide bicycle storage and changing rooms to accommodate staff, public, and patients who choose this alternative method of transportation. Twenty plus parking spots in public and staff parking areas have been set aside for people who drive fuel efficient vehicles. The walk to and from parking will be more pleasant because green islands, oasis of trees, shrubs, and grass, breaking up the campus’ concrete footprint.
While construction crews continue to dominate the hospital site, the timeline for staff to move into the building is mid- May. When open, the hospital will have a 24-hour emergency department. Other medical services are cardiovascular, cancer, digestive diseases, general surgery, orthopedics, internal medicine, neurology, and a level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with private rooms, along with obstetrics/ gynecology services.
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About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com
