Green Hospitals: A Multidisciplinary Framework for Sustainable Healthcare Infrastructure

Abstract

As hospitals increase their effect on the environment, it is crucial to quickly begin using sustainable design and ways of operating. A comprehensive approach for building green hospitals, involving architecture, environmental science, public health and healthcare management is described in this paper. It investigates whether new environmental changes will affect positive patient outcomes or the work efficiency of the hospital. First, the study goes over LEED and GGHC international benchmarks to learn about the most important aspects that make a healthcare facility sustainable. Using this approach, energy use, waste disposal, water management and air quality within hospitals were studied using data from five case studies in several continents. We collected the quantitative data from hospital reports and sustainability audits, but the qualitative data came from interviews with architects, hospital administrators and environmental consultants. According to the findings, green buildings that use energy-saving HVAC systems, rely on natural light, have green roofs and separate waste reduce both the carbon impact and the expertise of running those buildings. Additionally, patients recover more quickly when the design includes biophilic and air-enhancing features. High front investments, missed incentives in regulations and not enough time spent on green protocol education remain problems to solve. The suggested framework merges environmental performance measures, team cooperation from various areas and policy agreement to give direction to hospital leaders and health policymakers. It is concluded from this study that green hospitals are both doable and crucial to linking public health with climate action.