Effectiveness of indoor environment quality in LEED-certified healthcare settings

A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to evaluate the effectiveness of LEED-certified healthcare settings from the perspectives of both staff and facility managers. This study surveyed 164 staff members in two healthcare settings in a case study to compare LEED and non-LEED-certified healthcare facilities and surveyed 146 staff in six LEED-certified healthcare settings for the main study. Telephone interviews with six facility managers were used to verify the survey results and further examine the facilities' performance and the effectiveness of the LEED strategies. An independent t-test was used to examine the difference between a LEED hospital and a non-LEED hospital in one healthcare system. Building performance was rated higher by staff in the LEED-certified hospital than in the non-LEED hospital. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to compare staff ratings between the silver and gold LEED certification levels and between males and females, as well as to explore the possibility of interaction effects. Compared with the staff in silver-certified facilities, staff members in the gold-certified hospitals gave the buildings significantly higher ratings in most performance variables, including building overall, overall comfort and controllability. Males felt more comfortable than females with temperatures in healthcare facilities.