HEALTHCARE FACILITY RESILIENCE
Figure 2: The Climate Resilience Guidelines for B.C. Health Facility Planning and Design follow a four-step process for major capital projects.
in tangible successes, such as using future climate projections to limit overheating, and enhanced filtration approaches to account for increasing instances of wildfire smoke. These projects have also served to build internal and industry capacity to understand how changes in climate are likely to impact healthcare facilities, and how to address them.
Planning: Cowichan District Hospital The Cowichan District Hospital replacement project in Duncan, British Columbia, involves construction of a new community hospital on a nine-hectare greenfield site in a relatively undeveloped rural area on Vancouver Island. Integral Group was asked to conduct a high- level exposure screen and climate risk assessment to identify the main hazards and impacts that could threaten the facility, and to establish strategies necessary to mitigate them. Working to identify these issues at an early stage
allowed the team to define resilience objectives and criteria that could be considered throughout the project, acting as a touchstone to ensure their meaningful integration into design outcomes. The study also showcased the value of multi- stakeholder interviews and workshops, which enabled the consultant team to acquire in-depth knowledge of health authority protocols and initiatives relevant to the owner, harness the design team’s diverse and deep technical expertise, and pinpoint local governments, First Nations, and other external groups, who could bring valuable insight into the work.
Procurement: Royal Columbian Hospital The Royal Columbian Hospital redevelopment in New Westminster is one of the largest healthcare projects in the province’s history, consisting of a multi- year, three-phase approach to transform the entire facility. EllisDon was selected as the design-builder for Phases 2 and 3,
construction of the acute care tower, and hospital expansion, with a climate risk assessment being a key element of the project scope. The design-build team was joined by hospital Planning and Operations team members in a two-day workshop to identify the most significant hazards, and determine how the design might perform in the future. After setting the stage with future climate scenarios, the team worked through a series of activities to prioritise risks based on their likelihood of occurring, and the consequences should they take place. With key risks identified, the groups looked to solutions, using cross-representation to help evaluate options from different perspectives. Risk mitigation measures deemed low-cost and high reward were prioritised for review by all workshop participants. In the end, a list of measures that could improve the overall climate resilience of the building was developed for consideration – including both design and operational solutions to support the longevity of the asset.
Implementation: St. Paul’s Hospital Once climate risk assessments are complete, it falls to the project team to integrate the resilient design strategies necessary to address the highest risks into the actual design and construction of the facility. The new St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, a large-scale redevelopment of a major acute care complex, is emerging as a prime example of sustainability and climate resilience integration. Using the owner’s statement of
Figure 3: Key stages in the Design Cycle. 24 Health Estate Journal May 2023
requirements as the basis, the climate resilience compliance team developed two tools to help implement design goals through an iterative cycle aligned with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) review practices. The first consisted of a self-assessment checklist that outlined all resilience-related requirements, and created a feedback mechanism for the design team to ensure that those requirements have been met
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