Middletown Emergency Department achieves LEED Certification

Middletown Emergency Department achieves LEED Certification

Christiana Care’s Middletown Emergency Department has been awarded LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Green Building Council gave LEED certification to the facility under the council’s new-construction rating system.

The Middletown Emergency Department, which opened in April 2013, has several environmentally friendly features, including an energy recovery unit on the building’s air-conditioning equipment and LED lighting illuminating some interior and exterior spaces, including in the parking lot. The Middletown Emergency Department is the only health care facility in Delaware to receive this certification.

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance “green buildings,” which are structures that are designed, constructed and operated through environmentally responsible and resource-efficient processes.

“LEED is the world’s premiere certification program, and this recognition demonstrates Christiana Care’s commitment to be a responsible neighbor in our community and to reduce our overall environmental footprint,” said Bob Mulrooney, vice president of facilities and services for Christiana Care.

Efforts to curb resource consumption can pose complicated challenges for health care facilities, many of which generate an inordinate amount of heat from medical equipment that needs to be offset by cooling systems. In addition, patient rooms may require specific airflow rates to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, which require more energy to condition the space.

The Middletown Emergency Department, unlike an office building, also needs to be open 24 hours a day, which makes conservation of resources all the more crucial.

“The LEED certification is a tribute to our comprehensive commitment to our neighbors in the Middletown area,” said Heather Farley, M.D., FACEP, medical director of the Middletown Emergency Department and assistant chair of Christiana Care’s Department of Emergency Medicine. “We strive to provide expert clinical care when our neighbors seek help, and we strive to ensure that we are responsible stewards of the environment in which they live.”

Top