Press releases

Yale-New Haven Hospital news release
Release date: Dec. 3, 2007
Media contact: (203) 688-2488

Yale-New Haven Hospital takes the LEED in green venture

NEW HAVEN   The $467 million dollar Smilow Cancer Hospital project at Yale-New Haven Hospital is the first hospital in Connecticut to register for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building rating certification. The LEED rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

The Smilow Cancer Hospital project, now under construction at Park Street and Frontage Road in New Haven, began September 2006 with the demolition of the 50-year old Grace Building, former home to the Grace School of Nursing. Ninety percent of the Grace Building’s materials were recycled for the building of the 14-story, 497,000 square-foot hospital.

“Yale-New Haven Hospital has always taken an active role in being a good corporate citizen in a variety of areas, including the environment,” said William Mahoney, owner’s representative, Smilow Cancer Hospital. “We have won several Green Ribbon awards in the past for Environmental Stewardship.

As construction progresses toward the opening of the Smilow Cancer Hospital in December, 2009, YNHH has employed as many environmentally friendly and efficient methods as possible in the construction process. Among them are:

• sustainable site development;
• high reflective roofing materials to decrease heat and reduce cooling costs;
• a high efficiency irrigation system;
• building materials manufactured within 500 miles to minimize the need for long-distance transport of materials;
• indoor environment quality, including enhanced ventilation effectiveness through increased air changes;
• use of Green Seal paints and low VOC adhesives;
• a permanent monitoring system to control temperature and humidity levels; and
• a roof-top healing garden.

In addition, Smilow Cancer Hospital will expand its innovative commuter benefits programs for employees to include subsidized mass transit, preferential parking for commuters, free shuttle service and ample bike racks.

YNHH has a long history of environmentally friendly facility operations. Currently, the hospital:

• uses ultra low sulfur content fuel to support the operations of the main emergency diesel generators;
• uses environmentally-friendly gases for the ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization process, thus eliminating the release of CFC refrigerants into the atmosphere;
• reduced water and energy usage such as automated building control systems to moderate energy consumption in areas that go unoccupied during evenings, nights and weekends;
• uses water based adhesives for vinyl tile flooring; and
• has Mercury-free devises such as wall mounted blood pressure indicators and thermometers.

The new cancer hospital will provide world-class cancer care; bring together the Hospital’s, the medical school’s and the Yale Cancer Center’s best minds to develop new methods to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer; and will attract additional world-class talent to Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is a 944-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven was founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826 and today, the hospital complex includes Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital and Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, with a combined medical staff of about 2,400 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. See www.ynhh.org for additional information.

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Last revised: Dec. 3, 2007 (dh)

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