I remember a friend of mine once coming back from New York City and telling me about a hotel he stayed in. “You walk into the lobby and its lavish—vaulted ceiling, dramatic pendant lighting, the reception desk a broad sweep of oak, a gleaming marble floor. You can't...
HCD Guest Author
HCD Guest Author's Latest Posts
Open Building: A Systematic Approach to Designing Change-Ready Hospitals
The fact that hospitals undergo physical change has become a subject of interest on an international level. These changes are of great concern to healthcare organizations—and to governments—because of the rising costs of construction and the need to control those...
The Good VE: “Very Early”, Not Value Engineering
Though innovative design is a fundamental cornerstone of any development, discipline is needed to ensure that the project will be constructed within strict cost parameters. AG Architecture, Inc., (AG) has created a unique methodology to support detailed pricing...
A Family Practice Clinic Goes LEED-Certified
Viken Djaferian/Fotografix Viken Djaferian/Fotografix Sometimes the best cure for a patient has nothing to do with medicine and a lot to do with the surroundings. The “prescription” for patients at Affinity Medical Group's clinic in Greenville, Wisconsin, included a...
Where life begins
Golfer Arnold Palmer has been a champion to his many fans for more than 40 years. Another champion was his late wife, Winnie, when it came to providing safe, welcoming, totally supportive care to newborns and their mothers, particularly in the Orlando, Florida area....
Where sim meets surgery
Frequent moviegoers have no doubt seen scenes in which a harried pilot or astronaut brings his craft in for a bumpy landing and then—surprise, surprise—emerges from an elevated metal box, wiping his fevered brow, having just taken on a flight simulator. At William...
Globalizing sustainability
From her vantage point on the northern wall of the Gold Room in Stockholm Town Hall—the same venue where Nobel Laureates receive their prizes every year—the “Queen of Lake Malaren” (her portrait, that is) witnessed the coming of age of Europe's green healthcare...
Green Building Without the Bells and Whistles
Facility managers, maintenance staff, accountants, and other building owners and operators are being drawn into the reemerging “green” industry to help solve some of their health and cash-flow issues. This is a good step for building and occupant health, for as a...
Finding international awareness of our efforts
In January, Debra Levin and I keynoted the opening of the Facilities and Design segment of the Arab Health Congress in Dubai, UAE. It was the first time either one of us had traveled to the Middle East and we were not sure how we would be accepted, along with our...
Planning and designing for waste/recycling process flow
As waste and recycling consultants, we have worked with many facilities to help improve waste-handling efficiencies and increase recycling. Often, we are brought in to solve problems and provide solutions to waste stream issues after a spectacular but not always...
Evidence-based design for building a world-class heart hospital part two
Last month's article on the use of evidence-based design in building the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital at The Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC) discussed the effect of the facility on patients and families. As noted, the increased patient and family...
Building momentum
More than 115 Green Guide for Health Care pilot projects, representing more than 30 million square feet of construction, are raising the bar for building green and healthy hospitals. Their shared knowledge is reflected in the newly revised Green Guide for Health Care...











