Impact of Green Building Design on Healthcare Occupants

Previous studies have shown that indoor environmental factors such as ventilation, lighting, noise and contact with nature can influence the occupant perception of the working environments. But there is still hot debate over whether a green hospital is more comfortable to work in. Since the green healthcare design is increasingly adopted in practice, it’s important to assure this new healthcare design addresses the needs of the staff, with the sustainability considered at the same time. There is evidence linking the working environments to the turnover rate of nurses, medical errors of the doctors and staff, and the overall care they deliver. This research adopts quantitative study using surveys. The participants are the healthcare staff including doctors and nurses from three hospitals, two of which are LEED-certified hospitals and the other is conventionally designed and not LEED-certified. The results show significant difference between two types of hospitals studied. Staff working in the LEED-certified hospital feel more comfortable and show a higher satisfaction level towards their working environments. This study provides empirical results to reveal the relation between the building design and the comfort and satisfaction of healthcare staffs, which may shed light on the future hospital design.