Sustainable Design for Health Care Facilities: A Case Study of the LEED Certified Rincon Community Hospital at Civano

Abstract

This Master’s Report focuses on applying sustainable design principles to the design of Rincon Community Hospital at Civano a new healthcare facility being planned for Tucson. Civano is a pre-planned sustainable community located in Tucson, Arizona that demonstrates efficient utilization of resources and planning. Based upon the principle of human thermal comfort, the proposed hospital design emphasizes integration with the surrounding environment by focusing on the relationship of the indoor and outdoor spaces. This includes maximizing the effective use of adjacent open air spaces, transitional spaces, and courtyards that are designed to maximize thermal comfort by working with the local climate to create comfortable microclimates around the building. Rincon Community Hospital at Civano also demonstrates the application of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) principles during the design process. The proposed design for the hospital utilizes passive solar design, daylighting, earth cooling, and building orientation to create comfortable environments for human occupation that require less energy than specified by ASHRAE Standard 90.1 1999. To achieve these goals, the hospital design was developed through analysis of the physical characteristics of the site, potential for LEED® scoring, and energy analysis. The results are presented as annotated plan, section and perspective images. It is hoped that this methodology can be applied to future development of sustainable healthcare facilities in desert environments that create healthy natural environments to aid patient healing and accelerate their recovery process.