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Home > News
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| Tuesday, October 11, 2011
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Contact: Debra Thompson
Director, RMH Corporate Communications
540-564-5886
 For its environmentally friendly design and construction, the RMH Hahn Medical Building has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Silver certification by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
LEED certification is based on a point system and is granted by the Green Building Certification Institute, an independent nonprofit established in 2008 with the support of the USGBC. Four levels of certification—Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum—are awarded based on the number of points accrued. Points are granted on the basis of a building’s energy efficiency, water conservation, user satisfaction, indoor air quality, land usage and the amount of recycling that was achieved throughout construction.
“We want to build good, sustainable buildings that make sense economically as well as environmentally,” said Dennis Coffman, director, RMH Facilities Planning and Development. “This LEED Certification is the acknowledgement that we’ve done a good job achieving those goals.”
According to Coffman and Bob Clopper, project construction manager, features of the Hahn Medical Building that earned points toward Silver certification included
- A white roof, like that of the main hospital, to divert heat from sunlight
- The insulating factor of the glass used in the building, which helps reduced heat gain in summer
- The type of air conditioning systems that were put in place, and the kinds of environmentally friendly refrigerants that they use
- The type of paint and carpeting used inside the building, which emit no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere
- The widespread use of construction materials that contain a high amount of recyclable content
- The use of high-flow/low-flow fixtures in restrooms
“We also gained points by recycling more than 75 percent of the construction debris we generated, and by purchasing, as much as possible, building materials locally to reduce the amount of pollution that would have been created by shipping those items from someplace else,” Clopper added.
The Hahn Medical Building houses the RMH Hahn Cancer Center on the first floor and medical offices on the second and third floors. It is the second LEED-certified building whose construction Coffman and Clopper have overseen for RMH. In late 2010, the new RMH hospital was awarded LEED Gold certification by the USGBC, making RMH the first inpatient care facility in Virginia, and one of only a few in the nation, to achieve Gold certification.
From the earliest stages of building the new hospital and health campus, RMH administrators and facility planning staff have been committed to building environmentally friendly, “green” buildings on the 254-acre site.
“It is an honor to achieve LEED certification, but what’s important is for us to accomplish the intent behind the LEED program, rather than just accruing points so we get the recognition,” noted Coffman. “What we’re really after is making sure we’re being good stewards of our resources and doing the right thing for our community for now and for the future.”
LEED, an internationally recognized green building certification system, was developed by the USGBC in March 2000 to provide building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. To learn more about LEED certification and the USGBC, visit www.usgbc.org.
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