LEED Silver Certification Awarded to UMass Medical Building

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED Silver certification for sustainable design and efficient operation to one of the facilities built by University of Massachusetts’ Medical School (UMMS). The Ambulatory Care Center building is located at 55 North Lake Avenue in Worcester, MA, on the south side of the university campus and was developed by UMMS in collaboration with its clinical partner the UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Designed by Boston-based architecture firm Payette, the 253,000-square-foot facility opened in summer 2010 and accommodates a mix of ambulatory clinical care centers and research spaces. After performing a complex review of the building’s design, construction and operational data over the past months, USGBC verified the LEED Silver certification on September 20.

According to a description from the project’s architecture firm, the seven-story building is located right next to a visitor parking garage providing easy access for patients and close to the hospital and school so that doctors and researchers can work together more efficiently. In line with LEED Silver requirements, all interiors spaces provide an optimal setting for healthcare by promoting a high level of comfort and individual controls. In order to prevent solar heat gain, the building’s roof was designed to reflect rather than absorb the heat. Also, the facility has an east-west orientation and was enveloped with tinted, reflective and insulated glass. Other amenities such as automatic low-flow/low-flush plumbing fixtures (which account for approximately 30 percent in water saving), adhesives and paints with low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to reduce chemical emissions, sophisticated heating, cooling and lighting systems and hiring a specialized commissioning agent to oversee the design and proper installation of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems were also implemented to meet the LEED Silver standards.

The Ambulatory Care Center facility is the first building in the history of UMMS to achieve this sustainability status.

Images courtesy of University of Massachusetts and Payette