FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Media contact: Heather West, ,

Faribault, Minn. (November 2009) Exhibited at Greenbuild 2009, the aptly-named “Green Patient Lab, version 3.0” demonstrates how sustainable design practices foster a healing environment that not only optimizes building efficiencies, but also increases comfort for patients, families and medical staff, while positively affecting health care outcomes.

The Green Patient Lab will be open in the Phoenix Convention Center’s 300 Level, North Building, during expo hours, Nov. 10-12. Presented by Building Design+Construction, the 20-by-32-foot, custom-fabricated Green Patient Lab is the first, full-size, concept room of its kind.

Anshen+Allen, the international architectural firm headquartered in San Francisco, designed the state-of-the-art, private, acute patient hospital room. According to the design team, they sought “to elevate awareness of green materials and technologies that are economically viable, readily available and appropriate for use in intensive health care settings.”

Showcased among these materials and technologies is SAGE Electrochromics’ electronically tintable glass in an aluminum-framed window manufactured by Wausau Window and Wall Systems. Offering patients convenient control, SageGlass products change from clear to a highly tinted state.

“While the patient-controllable aspect of this glass is a great fit with our patient-centered environment, it’s really the potential for energy savings that is the key feature we wanted to highlight. In our theoretical building, which would house the Green Patient Lab, SAGE’s glass would work in tandem with a building-wide daylight harvesting system and in synch with an HVAC system combining low wall displacement ventilation, radiant heating panels, and natural ventilation, resulting in tremendous improvements in energy efficiency, while not sacrificing one bit of patient comfort,” says Anshen+Allen’s interior senior designer, Suzanne Drake, IIDA, LEED AP.

“Our products provide an answer to the age-old question of how to maximize natural light and a view to the outdoors while creating a space that’s thermally and visually comfortable for the people inside,” explains Lou Podbelski, SAGE’s vice president.

Podbelski continues, “In its tinted state, the glass in an exterior window minimizes unwanted solar heat gain, performing three times better than most commercial glazings. Reducing solar heat gain directly impacts energy and other expenses associated with operating a building.” He adds that the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that electronically tintable window systems are capable of providing up to 40% savings on energy bills.

“In many parts of the U.S., natural ventilation with operable windows and terrace doors also offer a seasonal opportunity for air-conditioning energy savings when included as part of a facility’s HVAC design,” adds Steve Fronek, vice president of technical services at Wausau. “Fresh air, daylight and outside views combined with condensation resistance, thermal performance, and recycled content, all aid buildings seeking certification under such programs as LEED for Healthcare.”

Hospitals are the second largest energy consumer among U.S. buildings, according to the research group at Anshen+Allen in collaboration with the Green Project Lab team. Reviewing and summarizing more than 4,000 reports and surveys, they also learned that:

• Views and access to nature help patients recover more quickly, experience less pain, and require fewer medications than patients with no view to nature;

• 80% of respondents felt that environmentally friendly building materials, energy-conserving light fixtures and increased daylighting are priorities for facilities planning and operations;

• 90% of respondents believe the patient benefits from being able to control their environment via lighting, TV programming and privacy windows.

“When SageGlass products are used in applications like the Green Patient Lab, the benefits can prove valuable,” says Podbelski. “When everything else may feel uncertain, studies show that patients may find some relief from the stress and anxiety when they feel that they have control over their surroundings.”

Sharing this ideology, the Green Patient Lab exemplifies Evidence-Based Design (EBD) concepts, which consider that the room itself contributes to patient care and encourages the healing process. Anshen+Allen employed several principles to further guide its efforts:

1. Do no harm. Create a safe and healing environment.
2. Minimize the room’s impact on the natural environment through sustainable practices.
3. Provide direct connections between the outdoor and indoor environment.
4. Design the indoor environment to promote the health and well-being of staff and families.
5. Shelter-in-place; create a place that can function in the face of disaster.
6. Integrate the use of technology in the patient room.
7. Humanize the health care environment.

“Today's health care institutions are finding new ways to incorporate green design strategies into new construction to speed healing - not only of patients, but also of the planet,” notes Anshen+Allen’s Chairman and CEO, Roger Swanson, AIA, ACHA.

“The Green Patient Lab highlights both green materials and technologies that are economically viable, readily available and appropriate for use in in-patient health care settings,” says Dean Horowitz, general manager of Building Design+Construction magazine. “As an industry, there are few places for the building team to go to look for best practices in health care design that is fully integrated with sustainable products and systems engineering. The lab begins to fill that gap and provides a unique learning opportunity for Greenbuild attendees.”

Leaders in electrochromic technology for more than 20 years, SAGE Electrochromics, Inc. manufactures electronically tintable glass products that are available to the international architectural building market. Consistently proven reliable for use in exterior building applications, SageGlass® products help reduce energy bills by controlling solar heat gain and increase worker productivity by allowing additional daylighting, minimizing glare, and enhancing occupant comfort.


To learn more about SAGE and its products, please call , or visit sage-ec.com.
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Media Contact:
Heather West
Heather West Public Relations



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