Integrated Health Design

The Integrated Design Lab works with design teams and healthcare system partners in the Pacific Northwest. Our aim is to provide an integrated project delivery and operations approach that increases the quality of the work and healing environment and significantly reduces energy use in healthcare settings. The IDL also serves as a teaching and research lab for the University of Washington Department of Architecture.

The US Department of Energy estimates that buildings use approximately 50% of the total energy consumed in the United States today and produce a similar proportion of the greenhouse gases; hospitals as a building type use the second greatest amount of energy in the US. With growing attention to climate change and interest in achieving the 2030 Challenge, we are working toward the goal of significantly reducing energy consumption in hospitals. Using energy simulation tools and existing precedents, we are developing tools that aid our partners in achieving groundbreaking energy goals that can meet or exceed the 2030 challenge.

High Performance buildings embody both energy efficiency and superior interior environmental qualities. The hospital workforce is a chronically stressed population making life-or-death decisions working 12+ hour shifts. They often work without a glimpse of daylight, a view from a window or a place of respite from this chaotic environment. High-quality healing environments have been well recognized and established for patients and continue to be a critical part of design parameters. Attributes such as daylight, view, green space, and fresh air are imperative components to high performance hospitals, adding to the quality and health of the built environment. Incorporating daylight, views, and fresh air into hospitals requires a re-evaluation of the traditional building form and geometry, especially in traditionally deep-plan diagnostic and treatment facilities.

European examples provide a roadmap to energy efficiency and also present examples for incorporating excellent indoor environmental qualities into the hospital environment. The IDL draws from these precedents to demonstrate how quality drivers can be incorporated in hospitals, providing more comfortable environments for patients, visitors, and staff while also using significantly less energy.

The IDL's Targeting 100! research provides design, delivery and ownership teams with tools to meet the 2030 Challenge in hospitals with very little additional up-front capital investment.

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