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The Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center design and construction teams are focused on building an environmentally friendly building inside and out.
During the three-year construction schedule, contractors have been recycling more than 90 percent of construction waste and using recycled building materials when possible. Low-emitting adhesives, sealants, carpets and paints will be in place throughout the facility. And more than 75 percent of interior spaces throughout the building will be exposed to natural light.
“Building an environmentally-friendly facility goes far beyond including low-wattage light bulbs,” Arthur Mombourquette, BWH vice president of Support Services, said. “We made this commitment with significant employee interest and support for ‘green’ initiatives throughout our distributed campus.”
BWH and the Shapiro design and construction teams committed to building a “green building” and gaining the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In doing so, BWH is designing and building the Shapiro Center in accordance with the Green Guide for Health Care, the health care sector’s first quantifiable sustainable design toolkit that integrates enhanced environmental and health principles and practices into the planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance of facilities.
The LEED designation follows a rigorous third-party analysis in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Designs for the Shapiro Center call for as much landscaping around the building as possible to reduce the amount of asphalt and other impervious surfaces that cause rainwater to run into the city’s sewer system. The facility also will have some waterless urinals in public bathrooms, waterless medical devices and an intricate plumbing system that diverts treated water for irrigation.
The windows are designed to maximize heating and cooling throughout the Shapiro Center while reducing light pollution—or unnecessary light—outside the building.
“We have made a tremendous commitment to ensuring the Shapiro Center improves the health of our patients and helps us maintain the health of our neighborhood,” Mombourquette said.
Just a few of the elements that make the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center an environmentally-friendly building are: