Green Guide for Health Care

http://www.gghc.org

The Green Guide for Health Care borrows the credit numbering scheme and credit outline structure of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED® family of products with some modifications. Each credit has the following elements:

• Intent – Summarizes the goal of the credit.
  
• Health Issues – (new to the Green Guide) identifies specific health concerns addressed by the credit. Reviewed by Dr. Ted Schettler, M.D., MPH
  
• Credit Goals – itemizes the specific steps to achieve the credit including threshold goals.
  
• Suggested Documentation – ; suggests documentation to monitor and baseline performance and to benchmark achievement of the Credit Goals. The Green Guide is a voluntary self-certifying document that does not offer third party certification. Users of the Green Guide are encouraged to establish internal record keeping and tracking systems to support ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement. Note that while the suggested documentation requirements in Green Guide for Health Care: Construction can be completed by the end of construction, some of the strategies in the Operations section require collection of up to a year’s data to determine credit achievement. Furthermore, while these operational data requirements are especially geared for existing facilities, they are also intended to serve as useful references for new construction projects as they establish operations policies and ongoing operational protocols. In addition, the Suggested Documentation will help those teams interested in pursuing eventual LEED certification, as being an approximation what might be documents required by the LEED document.
  
• Reference Standards – Identify the standards and documents that establish the basis of the credit requirements.
  
• Potential Technologies & Strategies – Suggest helpful information to support the credit Intent and Credit Goals. Regional considerations and project specific performance needs, goals and other constraints are important factors to consider. Products and materials referenced in the Potential Technologies & Strategies section do not represent an endorsement but are suggestions for consideration in some applications.
  
• Resources – Cites selected information sources associated with the credit Intent, Credit Goals, and Potential Technologies & Strategies.