Impact Of Sustainability Programs On Healthcare Facility Design And Operations: Integrating GHG Emission Reduction And Low Carbon Building Strategies (2015-2025)

Abstract

Healthcare facilities also serve as the biggest contributors to global emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) (4-5%), but also hold a critical potential to lead the way to low-carbon change with facility design and operations. Integration into the care design and management of sustainability programs is a variance in regions although it is increasingly gaining attention. This paper will address how sustainability programs will affect the design and operations of healthcare facilities in the coming five years of 2015 to 2025 with a focus on greenhouse gas reduction and emission low-carbon mitigation strategies. It aims at finding out the interaction between design interventions, operational practices, and leadership structures in order to provide measurable results. They used a qualitative multi-case study design, and five facilities were assessed; in the study, including Humber River Health (Canada), Vivantes Klinikum Neukolln (Germany), Albert Einstein hospital (Brazil), As-Salam and HMG Sehat Al Sharq (Saudi Arabia) and; a multi-hospital study by Dion, Evans and Farrell. There were the institutional reports and published case studies, as well as interview-based evidence as the sources of data. Within-case analysis and cross-case synthesis were carried out thematically. Retrofits, digital automation, and renewable integration resulted in the creation of structural efficiency potential and were designed interventions. Quantifiable savings in energy and costs were always generated through operational programs particularly through HVAC optimization and the use of energy management systems on ISO basis. Leadership has proven to be the overriding facilitator, completeness of approach, funding, and cultural implementation. Alterations in CO2 emission had a quantitative outcome of up to 40% reduction, savings of 1.37 million kWh/year, and less than 2 years' payback in a few cases. The concept of sustainability in healthcare should entail combination of the design, operational, and governance approaches. The results offer practical suggestions to facility managers, policymakers, and architectures as they show that quantifiable cutbacks in emissions and cost-savings can be acquired in both recent and old facilities when leadership, monitoring, and policy merge.