Dental Tribune Nordic Edition No.4, 2016

08 Dental Tribune Nordic Edition | 4/2016 SCIENCE & PRACTICE Going green: The bottom-line benefits of green dental office design By James Kuester, US There is much talk these days about climate change and how we need to go green. Besides being better for the environment, a building designed according to green prin- ciples has several benefits: it is healthier for you, your patients and your staff. Moreover, a green build- ing lowers one’s utility and operat- ing costs and boosts the sales value of the building. Lastly, adopting green practices provides an en- hanced marketing opportunity for the dental office to attract and re- tain patients. Keeping these advan- tages in mind, let us look at some of the things one needs to consider when making the decision to build an eco-friendly practice. There are five aspects that we will examine as we explore de- signing a green dental office: site selection, alternatives to building new, ways to design to reduce both energy and water usage, eco- friendly materials, and Leader- ship in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Site selection What are some of the things one needs to consider when select- ing a site for a new dental office? First, one should look for a site where the building can have an east–west orientation. One should also look for a brownfield site, a site that has already had devel- opment on it, versus a greenfield, which is one where there has never been any development or building on the site. One should look for a site that is in a higher density area and close to existing utilities and access. Lastly, one should look for a site that is trans- portation friendly. An east–west orientation has been found to be the best situa- tion on a site for a building to take maximum advantage of natural wind flow in order to provide good natural ventilation in the space. Siting a building as such places its longest axis parallel with the movement of the sun to make maximum use of sunlight for natural lighting, as well as ener- gy production, as photovoltaics are utilised in energy production (Fig. 1). A brownfield site limits the destruction of the existing, undis- turbed vegetation and ecosystem compared with that of a greenfield or virgin site that has never seen development. Also, even if build- ing on a brownfield site, if there are existing trees, one should try to limit the number of trees re- moved during construction, as mature trees help provide natural cooling for the building. Locating the new dental office in a higher density area helps in- crease the likelihood that it will be pedestrian friendly and thus encourage patients and staff to walk to the office. Look at whether there are sidewalks to the building site and whether they are tied into municipal sidewalks. Having a sidewalk in front of the building that does not connect to a larger network of walkways does noth- ing to encourage walking, espe- cially if patients have to cross mul- tiple lanes of busy traffic or a large expanse of a busy parking lot. Additionally, one should look to locate the dental office near ex- isting public transportation stops. Within 0.4 km is considered ideal for encouraging patients and staff to make use of public transporta- tion. A location near a commuter parking lot can help encourage patients to cluster their appoint- ments at the beginning or end of their workday, before or after heading off on public transit to get to and from work. Locating the office near existing bicycle lanes and providing safe, secure park- ing for patients’ bicycles can help promote cycling to appointments (Fig. 2). Lastly, locating the office near other businesses that pa- tients and staff frequently visit, such as supermarkets, pharma- cies and dry-cleaners, helps reduce carbon emissions by reducing car usage. Alternatives to building new Rather than building a new dental office, one could consider renovating an existing structure. Renovating can significantly re- duce the carbon footprint of the new dental office by making use of the existing shell of the building. This prevents the loss of all of the embodied energy contained within that building shell and prevents the consumption of all of the additional energy needed to build a new one. Renovating avoids the destruction of the ex- isting ecosystem, as the site has already been developed. Typically, few, if any, trees need to be re- moved during renovation of an existing building and the natural rainwater run-off of the site has already been altered. When renovating an existing building, however, it is important that one have the indoor air qual- ity checked. Existing buildings can often contain carcinogens such as asbestos in old pipe cov- erings, flooring and adhesives. While the removal or remediation of these items may add to the cost of renovation, the cost of doing so rarely exceeds the cost of new construction. Reducing both energy and water usage Having decided to design a new dental office, what are ways one can design to reduce energy and water usage in the new space? One of the best things to do right at the start is to design an office that is as small and efficient as possible. A smaller space contains less embodied energy, since less materials are used to construct it. A smaller space requires less en- ergy to heat, cool and illuminate, thus reducing utility costs. Ad- ditionally, a smaller, more effi- ciently designed space increases the productivity of the dental staff and this helps reduce labour costs. One should make as much use of natural light in the design of the office as possible. Going back to the discussion on site selection, finding a site that offers plenty of natural light that can be incorpo- rated into the design of the office helps to reduce energy costs by reducing the need for artificial lighting and electricity. Research by the Interdepartmental Neuro- science program at Northwestern University in Chicago has found that humans respond better to natural lighting, experiencing it to be more soothing.1 In a dental office, where patient anxiety is typically already high, anything that can be done to help make the space more calming and reduce stress is good (Fig. 3). One should make as much use of natural ventilation in the design of the office. In this regard, the east–west orientation be- comes important, as it will help maximise the amount of natural airflow through the building. Install operable windows so that they can be opened to take ad- vantage of natural breezes and airflow. Again, research has shown people prefer natural ventilation over air-conditioned air. One should design the building to make maximum use of shade.2 Large overhangs on the roof and awnings and other building fea- tures can be used to create shade. These factors help to reduce cool- ing costs. Window tinting can help re- duce energy costs. It can reduce solar heat gain by as much as 54 per cent and can block up to 99.9 per cent of ultraviolet radia- tion.3 Ultraviolet light is damaging to finishes and fixtures, and pro- tecting them from the ultraviolet light will help extend their life and increase their return on in- vestment. One should design to make use of LED (light-emitting diode) or compact fluorescent lighting throughout the new office. The former use only about 20 per cent of the electricity of an incan- descent bulb and the latter use about 30 per cent of the energy. An incandescent or compact fluorescent lamp shines indis- criminately, wasting a significant amount of its light inside the fix- ture.4 An LED lamp is monodirec- tional and shines light only on the 1 2

Dental Tribune Nordic Edition No.4, 2016

Pages Overview