Healthcare Design - December 2013 - 42

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certification for commercial interiors (LEED CI),
through credits associated with accessibility
to public transportation, increased daylighting
throughout, Energy Star appliances, LED lighting, sustainable heating and cooling strategies,
low-VOC materials with increased recycled
content, and the use of local materials.
To gain insight into how sustainable initiatives
that are represented within LEED certification
impact occupant health and well-being, Adelante considered several staff-related outcomes
in its study: satisfaction, turnover and absenteeism, engagement, and stress.
curves for both staff and facilities personnel

To measure staff satisfaction related to the environment, an occupant IEQ survey developed by
the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the
University of California, Berkeley, was distributed
to both the Adelante Healthcare Mesa and Surprise sites to measure occupant response to the
built environment surrounding satisfaction and
perceived productivity over a range of criteria.
This anonymous, Web-based survey was initially
developed by CBE to measure thermal comfort
and has since been expanded to capture
measures in nine subjective IEQ categories for
healthcare facilities, including several LEEDrelated areas like air quality, acoustics, thermal
comfort, and lighting (electric and daylight).
A comparison of respondent demographics
across the two sites showed similarities: mostly
female clinicians and other hospital staff of comparable age, experience, and hours worked.
When asked about the LEED CI-related
building aspects, such as lighting and air quality, respondents reported higher levels of staff
satisfaction at the Mesa LEED facility compared
to the Surprise non-LEED facility, with statistically significant differences for lighting. The most
dramatic differences were related to daylighting, with 82 percent of the Mesa staff feeling
that the building's daylighting had a positive
effect on their ability to do their job (perceived
productivity) compared to only 33 percent
in Surprise. This increase in satisfaction for
lighting can be partially attributed to the use of
sustainable initiatives, such as access to natural
daylight to both reduce energy use and promote
employee health and wellness. These were
more deliberately approached in Mesa through
features such as clerestory lighting, natural
light in exam rooms, and occupancy sensors.
Thermal comfort for staff in Mesa, however,
scored lower than Surprise, likely due to learning

who access the thermostats that regulate the
high-efficiency mechanical systems required
to achieve LEED Platinum certification. While
not a point category in LEED CI v.3, acoustics
and speech privacy constitute two possible
points in LEED for Healthcare. These points
are now included in LEED CI v.4 in an effort to
provide workspaces that promote occupants'
well-being, productivity, and communications through effective acoustic design. In this
study, Mesa outperformed Surprise with statistically significant differences for satisfaction
related to the acoustical environment through
the use of soft-surface flooring, high-performance ceiling tiles, and extensive soffit design
at waiting and reception.
The results across all categories led to an
overall IEQ satisfaction score in Mesa of 86
percent, compared to a 62 percent satisfaction score in Surprise, a statistically significant
difference. As respondents from both sites
uniformly agreed on the importance of all
environmental categories surveyed, the differences in staff satisfaction suggest some
correlation with several of the LEED initiatives
to increased overall satisfaction with the IEQ.

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HCDmagazine.com 12.13

Staff engagement
While surveys were used to measure increases in satisfaction and perceived productivity
due to the environmental quality associated
with sustainable initiatives, direct measures
were also considered to gain insight into the
impact LEED certification might contribute
to employee engagement. Voluntary and
involuntary turnover rates for the first year of
operation at the new Mesa facility remained
consistent with turnover rates from the prior
year at the old facility. However, upon moving
to the new facility, Adelante Healthcare Mesa

A comparison of facility profiles
for Adelante Healthcare Mesa
and Adelante Healthcare
Surprise.

EMMA MATEY

Staff satisfaction
http://www.HCDmagazine.com
Healthcare Design - December 2013

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