Tag Archive for: sustainable design

Why Sustainability is So Important to Us

Sustainability is one of the most common goals of every facility manager. The idea that you can implement some materials and designs that will not only stand the test of time, but greatly reduce any harmful output to our environment is what managers, designers, and architects yearn for. However, why is sustainability so important to us in the commercial facility industry? There are several answers to this question, so we’re going to explore the many benefits of sustainability and how it can help commercial facilities thrive.

The Importance of Sustainability

The overall goal of sustainability is to prevent the unnecessary depletion of our natural resources. While this may not seem like it has a correlation with your facility, it actually does. Given the various energy required to heat and light a facility, the amount of waste generated by a facility’s occupants, and the toxicity of certain cleaning products and chemicals that are used within a facility, it’s now more important than ever to make facilities and commercial buildings more sustainable. There are several ways you can set sustainable goals and achieve them. Here’s a few to help you get started:

Waste Reduction & Improved Recycling

One of the key principals of sustainability is to reduce waste and increase the ability to recycle. Since there’s finite space on the planet, there’s little room for waste. Unfortunately, we’ve got plenty of it to go around. By implementing a thorough recycling plan for your facility, you can cut a lot of disposal costs and you’ll reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants in your facility. Properly recycling materials can actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere.

Using Clean & Sustainable Energy

Installing solar panels on the roof of your facility has nothing but positive benefits. It significantly cuts costs on your energy bill because the energy that you’re using gets replenished every day. Depending on where your facility is located, local organizations often give incentives and tax breaks for businesses who utilize solar panels for clean and emission-free energy. Overall, solar panels pay for themselves within a matter of years, so you’re essentially cutting down on your operating costs.

Use Green Building Materials

Another way you can make your facility even more sustainable is by utilizing some green building products anywhere Sustainabilityyou can. While bamboo and hemp may be sustainable materials that can be used to build a home, it doesn’t really hold sway in a commercial facility. However, recycled plastic, like HDPE (high-density polyethylene), can certainly be used inside your facility to help add to the sustainability efforts.

HDPE solid plastic has been used in commercial facilities across the country as toilet partitions, storage compartments, and even lockers in schools. It’s a solid material that doesn’t scratch, rust, crack, or dent. It’s not absorbent, so moisture and mildew won’t wear it down. HDPE plastic is very low maintenance, so it only requires a little cleaning periodically. Above everything else, it can outlast other plastic materials on the market, so you’ll cut costs by not having to replace the product frequently.

There are plenty of benefits to trying to make your facility more sustainable. It not only helps you cut operational costs with your facility, but it can help reduce the harmful effects of emissions in the environment. Do you want to learn more about how to make your facility more sustainable? Check out this free eBook, Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, from your friends at Scranton Products.

Architecture Trends Influencing Sustainable Hospital Design

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Sustainable design and architecture has grown in popularity, not just as a stylistic approach, but architects and designers are thinking about the long term. Most new hospitals have taken to this approach and begun implementing sustainable design aspects and green materials that can help reduce emissions and energy use. If you’re the manager of a facility or hospital, you’re probably trying to think of ways to cut costs on your energy bill through long-lasting solutions.

Here are a few architecture trends that are influencing sustainable hospital designs that you may want to consider during your next remodel, or if you’re about to embark on a new facility.

Increasing Natural Light & Using Low Energy Bulbs

There are many benefits to natural light. It helps reduce the need for electrical illumination to lower energy costs. There are many effective ways this can be done, including skylights, larger windows and window walls, and glass doors. When the sun sets, that’s when you can utilize low-energy bulbs to provide light without burning up too much energy.

Get More Green

Indoor plants have many benefits. They can reduce carbon dioxide levels, keep the temperature down, boost humidity, and even help reduce pollutants in the air. Using more indoor plants can help improve moral, as well as help the building maintain a healthy environment. However, outdoor gardens and courtyards can also have positive benefits for hospitals, mainly with the patients.

When a patient can see or even walk through a gardened area, it can have positive effects on their health in terms of stress reduction. Having multiple “green areas” makes the hospital more visually appealing. Run-of-the-mill hospitals have a stuffy lack of imagination, and the environment in which a patient is trying to heal has a lot to do with it. Having a garden terrace for patients to relax, enjoy the sights, or spend time with their family has positive benefits on the building, and the patient themselves.

Using Recycled Materials

One of the easiest and most efficient moves towards sustainability is using recycled materials in any way you can. Not only does this help reduce waste, but it also helps conserve natural resources, and it can help reduce greenhouse gases.

There are also plenty of great materials that are recycled. HDPE (high-density polyethylene) is a solid-plastic that can be used for a variety of applications, like toilet partitions and durable lockers. This plastic not only provides a strong structure, but it’s also non-absorbent, impact-resistant, and long-lasting.

Moving Forward with Sustainable Hospital Design

Now that you’re aware of some of the newer trends that hospitals around the world are using to make their facility more sustainable, you have a few ideas to run with. Not only did you see that these design aspects have benefits of reducing your energy costs and the actual building emissions, but you also saw that it can have a positive effect on the patients and their health. With the right design implementations, hospitals and patients can benefit greatly. Are you looking for ways to make your facility or hospital more sustainable? Check out this free eBook, Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, from your friends at Scranton Products.