Green infrastructure imperatives for healthcare organizations

As hospitals have a direct impact on the physical and psychological well-being of patients, the conduciveness of their infrastructures has become critically important. That's why there is a newfound interest in sustainable hospital designs and structures today

- NAGESH JOSHI

The healthcare sector in India has been growing at a rapid pace and contributing immensely to the improvement in the quality of services in the country. While this augurs well for the industry, there is an imminent need to introduce green concepts and techniques in this sector, which can aid growth in a sustainable manner.

Introducing green concepts in the healthcare facilities can help address severe national-level issues like infection, epidemics, handling of bio-medical waste, water efficiency, energy efficiency, reduction in fossil fuel use for commuting, consumer waste, and in general, the conservation of natural resources. Most importantly, these concepts can enhance patient health, recovery, and well-being.

The modern hospitals, in general, are among the top energy guzzlers, and a major part of this consumption comes from air conditioning, redundant power systems, and utilities. In the case of hospitals, it is mandatory to maintain a clean and hygienic indoor environment round the clock along with necessary redundancy for critical areas, which demands different levels of air changes as compared to commercial buildings like malls.

This activity demands a lot of energy use and results in huge bills being generated. In this scenario, it is important to focus on a sustainable solution with optimized energy-efficient infrastructure and green design. Comments Shivakumar N, Group Vice President - Projects & Engineering Services, CARE Hospitals: "The use of renewable resources like solar energy, and wind energy instead of commercial grid energy along with optimized energy-efficient equipment and design can save a hospital at least three times the energy cost. Currently, we can say that a business without a green initiative is not sustainable."