A Green Hospital

The new Ohaupo Road hospital is one of the first new green hospitals to be designed and built in New Zealand. One that follows a framework to enable it to deliver an equivalent rating of 4-5 stars when a rating scheme becomes available.

Green initiatives incorporated into the design of the hospital include solar water heating, high efficiency lighting, optimal insulation, efficient chillers and boilers.

With an energy use target of <300kWh/m2/year compared to the 360kWh/m2/year for the average NZ hospital, the new Braemar hospital realises a 20% energy use saving. The main electrical metering and central water metering is linked to the Building Management System (BMS) to assist in energy and water management. The BMS system ‘texts’ our service personnel when it detects something that requires human intervention.

To meet the equivalent rating of 4-5 stars meant that the sustainable features were not just lip service. Healthy materials were selected, such as all carpets have the environmental choice labels, low VOC paints were used and finishing timbers and veneers were sustainably sourced.