Enhancing Healing Environment and Sustainable Finishing Materials in Healthcare Buildings

Abstract

This research developed an assessment tool for enhancing the healing environment in healthcare buildings, especially interior finishing materials, based on sustainability standards, i.e., Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and WELL building standards. The purpose of this tool is to help decision-makers, interior designers, and client committees to identify the compatible interior materials’ specifications with the healing and non-infection environment in order to create a better experience for patient, staff, and visitors. The current study adopts a sustainability-oriented approach to bring more objectivity for assessing the architectural finish in the healing environment at the healthcare projects through a case study of King Faisal University’s (KFU) hospital project with a 182,000 m2 built area. Following the consensus of different experts, the assessment tool integrated two main international standards: LEED healthcare and WELL building standards, in addition to chromotherapy method. This tool assesses interior finishing materials, which affect the healing environment and sustainability in healthcare buildings. Each standard has credits, including items and scores for each item. The developed assessment tool was adopted in the KFU Hospital project, which has gained high acceptance among all stakeholders, including decision-makers. The developed tool is an integrated instrument (based on LEED standards, WELL standards, and chromotherapy method) for assessment; instead of using different tools for assessing finishing materials in healthcare buildings, the assessment tool supports all stakeholders in analyzing interior finishing material to achieve the optimum healing environment and sustainability.