Greener Dental Practice Checklist - 7

Staff Lounge
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Outside Your Building
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Provide an Energy Star rated refrigerator and microwave or toaster oven to encourage employees to bring healthy food from home. Purchase reusable dishes, silverware, cups, and glasses for staff and patients and equip your lounge with an Energy Star rated dishwasher to encourage employees to wash and reuse dishes. Promote carpooling and provide special parking spaces for those who carpool. Encourage alternative transportation with public transit maps and discount passes. Install convenient, safe places for bike parking.

Implement storm water management strategies to help reduce the discharge of sediment, oil and chemicals into storm drains, surface water and groundwater. Select a light color for your building and roofing material, which will reflect light and reduce your energy use. Landscape with drought-resistant and native plants to minimize irrigation needs. Look into the feasibility of using gray water, which is water from sinks, showers, or clothes washers that is recycled for irrigation, to water plants and land. Consider a rainwater collection system to provide an alternate water source for garden irrigation while reducing run-off. Ask your landscape maintenance team to compost clippings to reduce waste. Limit the amount of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides used for landscaping.

Mechanical Room
Select an oil free compressor. Oil lubricated compressors can add oil to the compressed air stream and compromise the quality of air for patients and have damaging impacts on hand pieces. Choose a dry, oil free vacuum system for your practice. This newer technology uses no water compared to a traditional system which consumes approximately a gallon a minute.

OVERALL OFFICE STRATEGIES
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Design & Construction
Select an architect and builder that are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited or have experience working on green projects. A good place to start is by visiting usgbc.org for contact information for your local U.S. Green Building Council chapter. Evaluate the feasibility of pursuing LEED certification for new practice construction and tenant improvements. Ask your contractor to develop a waste management plan to facilitate recycling, and insure proper disposal of nonrecyclable materials during construction and/or renovation of your practice. Select a location that fully utilizes your region’s existing characteristics. Work with your design team to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of a potential site’s sun, soil, water and wind conditions. Consider a high density location when constructing a new practice. Density reduces automobile use and creates healthier communities. Look for nearby access to public transportation and other vital services. Renovate an existing building for your new practice to preserves more resources than ground-up construction.

HVAC System
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Purchase high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment which will save money, and produce less pollution during operation. Integrate a heat recovery feature into your HVAC system which can be used to pre-heat or pre-cool outside air, using the exhaust air as the source. This will reduce energy consumption during wintertime, and during extreme summer conditions. Install programmable thermostats that automatically adjust temperature settings based on the time of day and day of the week. Regularly change your HVAC filters and tune-up your units. Consider installing locking devices on thermostats to maintain desired temperature settings.

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Water Heater
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Install an energy efficient water heater. Consult with your project team or visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s website for their Consumer Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (eere.energy.gov/consumer) to determine what type of water heater is most appropriate for your practice. Insulate your existing water heater tank for energy savings. A tank that’s warm to the touch needs additional insulation.

Your Henry Schein Dental Sales Consultants can provide further information and assistance. For details, call

800-645-6594.

http://www.usgbc.org http://eere.energy.gov/consumer

Greener Dental Practice Checklist

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greener Dental Practice Checklist