Improving sustainability in healthcare with better space design quality

Publicado em "Green design, materials and manufacturing processes", ISBN 978-1-1380-0046-9
The hospital project contains different aspects from the most common projects of residential, offices or services buildings. In common buildings, sometimes the user and the client are the same and when they are not, setting the requirements is not difficult since they are common to most inhabitants. In the case of hospital buildings this is not the reality and the project team is usually hired for the purpose of designing a building that includes different spaces and different users, such as doctors, nurses, patients, visitors, cleaning staff, administrators, and others. In this sense it is important to combine different spatial needs, which are always subject to constant changes throughout the period of building operation due to: new features; innovations; enlargement needs; and new healthcare treatment methods. This paper discusses the importance of the design and organization of space quality in the overall sustainability of a hospital building and how this aspect is evaluated in BSA tools.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Reference SFRH/BD/77959/2011