Health Care Get’s A Green Star

Building projects in the Health Care sector spent $6.7 billion in the financial year ending 2009/2010. A 141% increase over the previous year.

This peak was largely driven by several billion-dollar health developments, including the $2 billion Fiona Stanley hospital in Perth and the $1.2 billion Gold Coast University Hospital.

The spike in spending will drop back in this and the next financial years to about $4.1 billion in 2011/2012. Which might at first look like a bit of a bummer…

…But…

…Green Product manufacturers will win the day more and more. Here’s why.

Hospitals use great big heap’n helpings of energy. I remember when I was a teenager visiting my mother who worked at the local Geriatric Nursing Home for our regional center. They had their own coal fired power station. And that was just for the laundry. I thoughtlessly flicked a rebellious teenage cigarette butt into the pile of coal once and it got back to my mother who didn’t know I smoked.

Fortunately nothing happened. And mum knew there was no way she was going do anything about my smoking. I was well beyond control by then.

Today, with all their radioactive probes and machines that go BING, it’s a wonder hospitals alone don’t suck the life out of Mt Isa (that’s a coal mine BTW).

So when the Green Building Council created the Green Star – Health Care rating tool it was always going to be difficult to find ways to improve building performance for this sector. God knows product specification in hospitals could use some improvement in the area of human health (vinyl floors?)

Adelaide Again?

The new South Wing at Flinders Hospital in Adelaide is a great present time example of sustainable building and a great example of how sustainable building product manufacturers can make a significant difference where it’s needed. It is the first building to be certified under  Green Star – Heathcare certification.

Designed by Woodhead, the redevelopment program made the ambitious goal of reducing the overall energy consumption of the entire Flinders Medical Center. The South Wing in particular achieved a 45% decrease in energy consumption by 2000-2001 standards.

But design can’t do it alone. They need products to make design challenges, targets and dreams come true.

And since state departments, including health departments across Australia, have made it clear they are backing the Green Star rating tools. Manufacturers of products which genuinely increase building energy and water performance, and reduce human risk are in for a good time in the health sector.

Of course, I don’t write a blog just because I’m a nice guy. So it’s time for a little self plug.

The green product manufacturers who win that game will be the ones who have the kind of marketing communications and strategies that reach into the hearts and minds of the designers and specifiers. Product performance will be the secondary consideration (just tellin’ it like it is).

BUT I’m here to help the manufacturers with authentically sustainable products win the game. And being the Most Outrageous Greenie in marketing, I can tell the genuine deal when I see it.

Keep an eye on the health sector. There are opportunities to be had over the long haul. Mid-range projections indicate the percentage of the population over the age of 65 will grow to 22.4% by 2031.

Warmest Regards,
Scott Junner.
The Unlikely Ad Man.