LEED-gold certified Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago (Photo credit: Perkins+Will)

Sustainable architecture and design firm, Perkins+Will, has released a new study that contradicts the belief that sustainable hospital design is cost prohibitive.

The study, LEED Certified Hospitals: Perspectives on Capital Cost Premiums and Operational Benefits finds that the average capital cost premium for LEED-certified hospitals under 100,000 square feet was 1.24 per cent. The average cost premium for hospitals over 100,000 square feet is only 0.67 per cent.

Conducted by Robin Guenther, FAIA LEED AP, Breeze Glazer, LEED AP from Perkins+Will and Gail Vittori, LEED Fellow, from the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, the study was based on analysis of 15 LEED-certified hospitals.

Guenther and Vittori expanded their 2008 study of the capital cost premiums of 13 LEED-certified healthcare buildings. For the recently released study they interviewed project teams representing 15 LEED-certified hospitals.

"LEED certification is in fact one of the most sound investments a hospital can make in today's economy," said Guenther. "It delivers measurable economic, environmental and human health benefits."

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, hospitals are the largest contributor of carbon dioxide, creating approximately eight per cent of the nation's total carbon dioxide footprint. The healthcare sector is uniquely positioned within the green building movement to highlight the links between the environment and human health.