Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment tool - Sustainable Effective Design criteria in the Portuguese context

Abstract

Tools and methods to improve current practices and quality in the healthcare building sector are necessary to support decision-making at different building life cycle phases. Furthermore, Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment (HBSA) Methods are based on criteria organised into different levels, such as categories and indicators. These criteria highlight aspects of significant importance when designing and operating a sustainable healthcare building. To bring more objectivity to the sustainability assessments, the standardisation bodies (CEN and ISO) proposed core indicators that should be used in the evaluation of the environmental, societal and economic performances of buildings. Nevertheless, relying on state of the art analysis, it is possible to conclude that there are aspects of major importance for the operation of healthcare buildings that are not considered in the HBSA methods. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the context of sustainability assessment methods in the field of healthcare buildings and to present a proposal for the incorporation of Sustainable-Effective Design (SED) criteria in a new HBSA method. The used research method is innovative since in the development of the list of sustainability criteria it considers the opinion of main healthcare buildings' stakeholders, the existing healthcare assessment methods and the ISO and CEN standardisation works in the field of the methods to assess the sustainability of construction works. As a result, the proposed method is composed of fifty-two sustainability indicators that cover the different dimensions of the sustainability concept to support decision making during the design of a new or retrofitted healthcare building in urban areas.

Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices and Sustainable Performance in Hospitals: A Systematic Review and Integrative Framework

“…In addition to making flows more effective, sustainability raises challenges that generate the need for more complex planning for future facilities, as well as adaptation of existing facilities [96]. These challenges are aimed to ensure more efficient use of resources such as energy, water, and waste management, better social conditions, in terms of accessibility, safety, comfort, and patient experience, and improved economic outcomes with a reference to life cycle costs and contribution to local economies [94]. Specific recommendations for building and adapting facilities, considering sustainability criteria, include using safer and local materials, sitting hospitals near public transportation routes, planting on-site trees, and incorporating design components like day lighting, natural ventilation, and green roofs [58,59].…”

“…Furthermore, trade-offs can arise between dimensions. For example, larger patient rooms generate greater comfort, but consume additional environmental resources [94,119]. An initial step for hospital building modification lies in the application of a sustainability assessment tool.…”

Healthy and Sustainable Hospital Evaluation—A Review of POE Tools for Hospital Assessment in an Evidence-Based Design Framework

“…1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Healthcare environments POE studies 3. Several versions of evaluation tools and certifications have been developed with POE methodologies specifically for hospital environments [21][22][23][24]. The most known are related to sustainability but many of them include IEQ considerations and building effects on occupants' health and wellness.…”

“…The Portuguese HBSA tool has a similar approach but explicitly implements the concept of EBD into a well-structured sustainability set of criteria derived from the aforementioned tools of Eco-Effective Design (EED), including BREEAM, LEED, GREEN STAR, and CASBEE [22].…”

“…Probably the most known are the sustainability assessment tools (i.e., LEED, BREEAM) but many others exist, as Mills et al [24] and Elf et al [21] reported. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) protocols and software are not included since they look at the topic with a process perspective, as other scholars have already underlined [22]. In this review, neither single POE research protocols nor methodologies extracted from empirical studies are considered due to the difficulties of finding single item information and their application in one or a limited number of cases.…”