Hennepin Healthcare’s Clinic & Specialty Center Awarded LEED Green Building Certification

Hennepin Healthcare has been awarded LEED Gold Certification for its Clinic & Specialty Center that opened in March of 2018. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

LEED certification was achieved for implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance in: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

“Studies have confirmed that the environment can have an impact on human health,” said Bill Howden, director of facilities and master campus planning at Hennepin Healthcare. “Following sustainable building practices is yet another way we can achieve our vision of transforming the health of the community, while at the same time doing what’s right for the environment.”

Achieving LEED Gold Certification is definitely quite an outstanding accomplishment for a site that was once defined as “brownfield” with past uses including a filling/service station, dry cleaning business, tin shop, machine shop, printing business, and light manufacturing business that was likely contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum products. While building the Clinic & Specialty Center, steps were taken to remediate the environmental contamination.

Maximizing outdoor open spaces, providing convenient access to public transit, incorporating environmentally friendly landscaping, and focusing on a healthy indoor environment all factored into the building’s LEED Gold Certification.

 

“The underground retention and infiltration system that’s installed beneath the ‘pocket park’ reduces rainwater run-off and recharges the aquifers,” said Howden. “And the building’s landscaping incorporates native and adapted plant species to preserve irrigation resources. They are simple strategies that integrate beauty and beneficial design.”

The Clinic & Specialty Center is Hennepin Healthcare’s second building to achieve LEED certification. Whittier Clinic also achieved LEED certification and was the first healthcare facility in Minneapolis to be awarded certification under LEED for New Construction at any level.

Hennepin Healthcare is an integrated system of care that includes HCMC, a nationally recognized Level I Adult Trauma Center and Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and acute care hospital, as well as a clinic system with primary care clinics located in Minneapolis and across Hennepin County. The comprehensive healthcare system includes a 484-bed academic medical center, a large outpatient Clinic & Specialty Center, and a network of clinics downtown and in the North Loop, Whittier, and East Lake Street neighborhoods of Minneapolis, and in the suburban communities of Brooklyn Park, Golden Valley, Richfield, and St. Anthony Village. Hennepin Healthcare has a large psychiatric program, home care and hospice, and operates a research institute, innovation center and philanthropic foundation. The system is operated by Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., a subsidiary corporation of Hennepin County.

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