Green dental office design .. reflections on a LEED Platinum building

April 27, 2011

By James Kuester

Recently, I was able to tour a building that has achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. What a great experience! This building has incorporated many incredible features that reduce its energy usage and its impact on Mother Earth. While not everyone, especially dental practices, have the opportunity to build a new building, we all have things in our office interiors that we can control that will help reduce our business’ energy use and make the office more “green.”

Rather than using vinyl or PVC when creating a dental office design, I prefer linoleum. Why? Linoleum is made of natural linseed oil, cork dust, tree resin, wood flour, and limestone, and has a jute backing. None of these products are toxic or have a negative environmental impact. Plus, linseed oil is made from flax, which is naturally antimicrobial. This is a great feature in areas such as operatories, labs, and sterilization rooms.

Linoleum is also very durable and can stand up to the rigors of dental office applications. The same can’t always be said of vinyl. Also, once it’s worn out or the owner has become tired of it, unlike vinyl or PVC, linoleum can be shredded and composted.

In the building I toured, one of the ways they achieved their LEED certification was by not using materials where they weren’t needed. No carpeting or tile was installed in the hallways and other areas of high traffic. Instead, the concrete was stained with an attractive color and pattern. In almost every dental office there are opportunities to eliminate materials, especially on the floor if planned creatively.

For many years, fluorescent ceiling lighting has been used to provide general purpose lighting throughout the office — even in the operatories. Today, as we move toward higher efficiency and green office design, there are better options. Moving to T5 lamp fluorescent fixtures can improve the energy by as much as 28%. For example, a 35W T5 lamp puts out 3,650 lumens with an efficacy of 104 lumens per watt. This compares to a 40W T12 lamp at only 3,050 lumens and an efficacy of 81 lumens per watt, or a 32W T8 at only 2,700 lumens and an efficacy of 89 lumens per watt.

If your office design makes use of can lighting rather than tube, replacing the lamps with compact fluorescents (CFL) or LED’s is a great way to reduce energy use and “green” your office. LED’s generally score 92 on the Color Rendering Index as compared to 80 to 85 for other light sources, giving a “truer” white light. This makes them a good choice in operatories where the color of the light has a direct impact on one’s ability to properly color match dental enamels. By comparison, the sun is measured at 100 CRI. As far as efficacy goes, LED’s can generate as many lumens at 15W while a fluorescent produces at 35W. That’s over a 50% reduction in energy use.

Another green design advantage LED’s have over incandescent and fluorescent lighting is that they contain no hazardous chemicals. Most fluorescent and CFL’s contain mercury, lead, sodium, or other hazardous materials that can end up in landfills and leach into the water supply.

Lastly, in addition to reduced energy usage, LED’s last a long time. Since they don’t really burn out, their life is measured in lumen depreciation, and most LED’s can last 50,000 hours or more before their lumen output depreciates to 70% of its original output. This is the point at which the Illuminating Engineering Society says they should be replaced.

In the LEED building I toured, the lighting along the exterior walls was installed with daylight sensors to dim the lights gradually based on the amount of sunlight coming into the room. This keeps the volume of light steady throughout the day, but on a bright, sunny day, the electrical lights might be almost completely off, which greatly reduces energy use. Even if this strategy isn’t used in the operatories, this is great in reception areas, consultation rooms, and staff lounges, where the quality of the light isn’t quite as critical.

Another example from the LEED building I toured that can be used in most build-outs, especially in retail spaces, is eliminating the installation of acoustical ceiling tiles everywhere. In the LEED building, the drop ceiling and tiles were installed only where sound dampening was most needed. Elsewhere, the steel roof panels were perforated and left exposed with a layer of sound-absorbing insulation above to keep sound from echoing. A similar strategy could be used in dental offices, only installing acoustical ceiling tiles over the operatories, and leaving hallways and other areas open to the perforated roof panels. If insulation can’t be installed above the steel roofing panels in your dental office location, there are insulating materials that can be applied to these panels that can provide a similar effect.

Moving outside, the parking lot of the LEED building was paved with semi-pervious pavers to allow rainwater to pass through and not run off into the storm sewers. Additionally, parking spots were reserved close to the entrance for visitors driving alternative fuel vehicles. A dental office that has control of its own parking lot can easily employ both strategies.

If you don’t have the ability to change or control the parking designations or surfacing material in your parking lot, think about whether there are ways to offer bicycle parking for employees and clients that may want to ride their bikes to your office. This year I’ve been trying to ride my bicycle more for running errands and getting to appointments around town. Perhaps since I’ve recently had a bike stolen I’m more sensitive to the need to lock my bike, but what I’ve been finding is just how few places, especially dental offices, have bicycle racks, or any form of reasonable accommodation to lock a bike near their facility.

The last example from my tour involves the HVAC system. Geothermal wells were drilled that direct air 300 feet down into the bedrock to either chill or warm it, depending on the season, to heat and cool the building. Even in an urban environment this strategy was employed. The building is totally self-contained for its heating and cooling needs, so there is no need to buy any energy from the local utility. So, when planning a new, freestanding dental office building, this approach can be taken to save on utility costs for years to come.

As you sit in your office today, think about what you could be doing to reduce its energy usage, promote alternative transportation, and generally become more “green.” Work with your dental office designer to plan ways that your new design plan can incorporate green alternatives to reduce the material and energy use and thus, the environmental impact of your office. With just a bit of thought, opportunities exist for every type of office setting — whether you’re located in an office building, retail center, strip mall, or freestanding structure — to be more energy efficient and green.

James Kuester is a regular lecturer and writer on dental office design, green design, and interior branding and also serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the interior design department at The Art Institute of Indianapolis. With offices in Dallas, Indianapolis, New York, and Wisconsin, James is on the road regularly meeting with clients and speaking with dentists about their design needs. His work has been featured in Building Excellence in Design and Construction, Indianapolis Woman, Metropolis, Metropolitan Home, Home Décor Buyer, Elle Décor, Indianapolis Monthly, Indianapolis Home, and The Columbian. For more information, visit http://www.KusterDental.com.