GLUMAC - Engineers for a sustainable future

Many firms worked with the Providence design and construction team under Providence Yamhill€™s Service Area leadership to achieve the Gold designation. Other key participants in the project include Mahlum Architects, Skanska USA Building, Inc., Degenkolb Engineers, Larry Anderson Engineering, Inc., Engineering Economics Inc. Mayer/Reed, and Green Building Services Inc. Glumac engineers created the principal mechanical, electrical and plumbing designs, and contributed energy analysis and documentation to meet several LEED^® requirements.

From its inception, Providence Newberg Medical Center in Newberg, Oregon was designed with the environment in mind. The 56-acre campus houses an interconnected hospital, administration center and a medical office building. The $70.6 million facility is the first hospital built from the ground up by the Providence Health System in three decades, and Providence leaders seized the opportunity to make it a model of a healthy hospital environment, inside and out.

Included among the energy-efficient features of this hospital is a unique ventilation system, which brings in 100 percent outdoor air, making the indoor air quality dramatically healthier for patients, employees and visitors. All the hospital€™s electrical needs are met by purchasing 100 percent green power, with sources such as wind, geothermal and low impact hydro. Making use of natural light in the design, as well as occupancy sensors, daylighting and a centralized lighting control system built in further energy savings. Providence also went one step further and incorporated high-efficiency boilers and chillers, far beyond the levels required by code.

Providence administrators, led by energy manager Richard Beam, made the decision to aim for LEED^® certification early in the planning process. According to hospital spokesman Mike Antrim, they realized "going green" was the best way for them to exercise good stewardship€“not only of their own resources, but also of the earth€™s€“ while saving money.

"It made sense on many levels, not only from a financial standpoint, but from an environmental standpoint, too," said Antrim.

Though the medical center opened for business in June 2006, it was in late 2002 that Green Building Services (GBS) facilitated an eco-charrette to bring together all the members of the design and management teams. The results of the charrette brainstorming sessions helped to develop the green strategies and ideas that have shaped the high-performance building and made it an example for the nation.

GBS LEED^® Project Manager Katrina Shum Miller noted that making a hospital energy efficient poses different challenges than it does for an office building.

"One of the biggest challenges was not to compromise the level of health and quality of services the hospital provides while seeking energy efficiency measures," said Shum Miller.

An example she cited is balancing the energy advantages of natural daylighting versus programmatic needs. While lots of windows and outside views may be desirable in an office building, they can pose privacy issues for a hospital, and that concern had to be taken into account in the design.

Glumac president Steve Straus credits all the participants in the process for the ground-breaking outcome, and especially Providence Health System for its courage in undertaking the difficult LEED^® certification process and sticking with it despite the added costs and additional paperwork. Straus added that Glumac welcomes clients like Providence who are eager to go for the gold.

"We seek out clients willing to take that risk," said Straus. "We think the rewards are well worth it, especially in terms of carbon reduction and energy savings."

Indeed, Glumac Mechanical Engineer Natasha Houldson estimates that the new energy efficient hospital will avoid generating approximately 3 million pounds per year of carbon dioxide emissions by purchasing green power rather than using power generated by conventional means. Those reduced emissions will have roughly the same effect on the atmosphere as taking 273 cars off the road.

The new Providence Newberg Medical Center is a hospital that works to heal not only its patients but the environment, too. Now that€™s an idea that is worth its weight in LEED^® Gold.