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HEALTHCARE REAL ESTATE, CONSTRUCTION, DESIGN & FACILITY PLANNING

Palm Healthcare Foundation

Seeks to Be Florida’s First

to Achieve LEED Certification
®

for Green Building Reconstruction

alm Healthcare Foundation is setting the example locally and statewide for green
building reconstruction. Currently under construction, the Palm Healthcare
PPavilion, home of the Mollie Wilmot Children’s Center, will be a state-of-the-art
$12.5 million project for children with special healthcare needs. Through this project,
Palm Healthcare Foundation is seeking to be the first in the State of Florida to achieve
LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification for the renovation
of an existing building. It will adhere to the LEED® Green Building Rating System, the University Wellness Center and Palm Beach Habilitation Center took away truckloads of
nationally accepted standard for green buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building materials, including light fixtures, hot water heaters, water fountains, sinks, ceiling tiles,
Council (USGBC). The project will follow the USGBC’s design and construction prac- doors and cabinets. “In a typical interior demolition, everything would be thrown into a
tices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of buildings on the envi- dumpster and hauled away,” said Suzette W. Wexner, Palm Healthcare Foundation pres-
ronment and occupants in five areas: sustainable site planning; water efficiency; energy ident. “By renovating green, we have benefited our non-profit partners in the communi-
and atmosphere; materials and resources; and indoor environmental quality. ty and saved tons of materials from landfills. Through the donation of recyclable materi-
“According to the USGBC’s Certified Project List, no existing building renovations als, and by sorting wood, metals and other materials for alternate uses, we will be able to
have been LEED® certified in Florida,” said Rob Hink, Principal of The Spinnaker divert 75% of materials away from landfills—something that is so important in Florida
Group, Inc. and sustainability consultant for the Palm Healthcare Pavilion project. “Palm where landfill space is premium.”
Healthcare Foundation is really a leader in demonstrating that green building projects During the exterior disassembly phase, construction crews “skinned” the outside of
don’t have to always be new construction, as most of them are. It is possible, and better the building, removing the windows, studs, aluminum, steel studs and drywall and seg-
for the environment, to disassemble and reconstruct a building in a sustainable, environ- regated tons of materials for recycling.
mentally responsible way.” Every step of the way, from site selection, to disassembly to reconstruction, Palm
During the first phase of the project, interior disassembly, a wide variety of materials Healthcare Foundation is eligible for points toward LEED® certification status. The
were carefully removed in order to recycle them by donating them to local charities. Four number of points earned designates the level of certification awarded to the project
non-profit organizations, Hospice by the Sea, Habitat for Humanity, Florida Atlantic (basic, silver, gold or platinum).

48 December 2007 hospitalnews.org South Florida Hospital News