Davis Langdon’s latest sustainability research paper focuses on Healthcare facilities. These buildings are an enormous sustainability challenge, where on average a hospital requires at least twice as much more energy per sq/m than an office building and approximately six times as much water.

The Green Building Council of Australia recently released the Technical Manual – Green Star Healthcare. There is much interest in this new rating tool. The aims of the Green Star - Healthcare (v1) tool are to help owners and operators of healthcare facilities around Australia to: minimise the environmental impact of their buildings; improve patient health outcomes and staff productivity; receive recognition for green leadership and achieve real cost savings.

The challenge for health providers will be to not only weigh up the viability of sustainable options but to prioritise these against the competing needs for new facilities and equipment. This is not going to be an easy task in an industry where funding availability and facility requirements are often at odds.

Download the pdf for the full report.