Case Study: Tampa General Hospital Sustainable Addition

This article discusses the LEED BD+C:NC v2.2 Gold certification of the Tampa General Hospital Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The hospital earned points in categories such as sustainable site planning and indoor air quality, with features including an urban site with walkable access to community services and public transportation, roofing materials with a minimum solar reflective index, and designs that mitigate impacts of the surrounding environment. Lessons learned from the project include the importance of a LEED-specific submittal process and tailored specifications for sustainable materials. The article also discusses the weaknesses of relying on a single criterion to define green building, citing criticism of energy performance in LEED buildings and the difficulty of comparing energy data across countries. It compares the LEED and BREEAM certification methods, noting that while LEED provides a framework for sustainable construction in design, BREEAM requires a demonstration of measurable sustainable performance metrics. The article concludes that multiple certification methods are necessary to fully consider the dimensionality of green building design and performance.