CHKD Health Center & Urgent Care

The Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) Health Center at Landstown, a pediatric health center, is the first in Virginia to meet LEED v4 requirements for new construction and among the first to do so in the U.S. The design of the 70,000-square-foot facility was driven by CHKD’s guiding principle of advancing the health and well-being of its patients and visitors. The Health Center is projected to reduce energy costs by 35 percent, indoor water use by 37 percent, and outdoor water use by 50 percent. In the early design phases in 2014, the project team struggled to collect 20 Health Product Declarations (HPD) for the MR Material Ingredients credit. However, through collaboration between the design team and the construction team to track and collect this data and the evolution of the availability of HPDs in the marketplace, the team collected over 40 HPDs. The design team developed a tracking mechanism to collect data in regard to the MR and IEQ credits. The construction team then trained the subcontractors on what material attributes to look for and which documentation to provide. The construction team ultimately used the HPD Public Repository to collect HPDs. To make up for the lack of drywall recycling facilities in the Hampton Roads region and to maximize construction waste recycling, the construction team eliminated unnecessary packaging prior to arriving on site. They also closely tracked disposal rates each month and planned precise drywall orders in advance to maximize as much drywall installed per sheet as possible, successfully recycling 77 percent of construction waste. The main lobby and third floor waiting area both receive abundant daylight and provide views to nature; however, they are both two-story spaces that have a large amount of glass. This created a challenge for occupant thermal comfort and energy efficiency. To resolve this challenge, the integrative design team used displacement ventilation, which was also found to be life-cycle cost effective with a less than five-year payback. CHKD emphasized the importance of physical activity, waste reduction, healthy materials, daylight access and more. These goals were achieved throughout the space, including day-lit staircases filled with artwork to encourage stair-use; low-emitting building materials and furniture; daylight and views throughout; low-allergy, climate-appropriate plants around the exterior to accommodate the allergy clinic patients; and a kid-friendly, interactive dashboard in the main lobby, which provides energy use, water use, and other data in real-time for the patients and their families.