It’s official, the newest additions to Kelowna General Hospital are LEED gold certified buildings.
Local MLAs Steve Thomson and Norm Letnick, and representatives from Interior Health and Infusion Health unveiled a plaque Friday recognizing the LEED Canada Gold certification of the Centennial and Dr. Walter Anderson buildings at KGH.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings
“Achievement of LEED gold certification will not only help to reduce our environmental footprint, but help to provide a healthy environment for patients, staff and physicians who use the building every day,” said Thomson, Liberal MLA for Kelowna-Mission.
Letnick, Liberal MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country said as the second and third LEED gold buildings at KGH, the Centennial and Anderson buildings show the province’s lead role in environmental design and construction.
The Centennial tower added 33,445-square-metres of patient care space to the KGH site, while the Anderson Building across the Pandosy Street, added 7,580-square-metres of lab and clinical support space.
The two buildings are connected three storeys up by a glass-sided skywalk over Pandosy Street.
LEED promotes what is called a “whole-building approach to sustainability” by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:
- sustainable site development
- water efficiency
- energy efficiency
- materials selection
- indoor environmental quality
Both the Centennial and Anderson buildings opened May 27, 2012.
The six-storey Centennial tower consolidates and modernizes programs and services to improve health service delivery, including expanded emergency and ambulatory care departments, new larger operating rooms, a rooftop helipad, a new renal department and eye care clinic. It also includes the relocation of the McNair Mental Health and Substance Use Unit and 34 medical teaching inpatient beds as part of the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre project and the cardiac transition plan.
The three-storey Anderson Building houses the hospital’s laboratory and clinical support departments, which moved moved from the existing hospital in preparation for the construction of the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre.
Construction of the heart and surgical centre is now underway.
“While Interior Health’s goal is to improve the health and wellness of its residents, we understand the linkage between health and the environment. The Centennial and Anderson buildings are good examples of reducing our environmental impact while at the same time expanding facilities and services,” said Norman Embree, Interior Health Board chairman.
Infusion Health designed, built, financed and is now maintaining the Centennial Building. Its construction partner on the Centennial Building, Graham Design-Builders, designed and constructed the Dr. Walter Anderson Building, which along with the rest of the KGH campus is maintained by Infusion Health.
“Infusion Health’s and Graham Design-Builders’ job was to deliver LEED-certified buildings on time and on budget, an accomplishment we’re celebrating today with our partners,” said Ken Stewart, Infusion Health’s general manager.
In 2011, Interior Health was named the Energy and Environmental Stewardship Award recipient by the Canadian College of Health Leaders, the first organization in Western Canada to receive the award.
