Kelowna’s first LEED Canada Gold certified building celebrated

Norm Letnick, MLA Kelowna-Lake Country, and representatives from Interior Health, Infusion Health, Graham Design Builders and UBC Faculty of Medicine Southern Medical Program unveiled a plaque today recognizing the LEED Canada Gold certification of the Clinical Academic Campus (CAC) at Kelowna General Hospital.

“The CAC is the first certified LEED Canada building and the first Gold certified building in Kelowna and the Okanagan,” said Letnick. “This is a great achievement of which everyone involved should be proud.”

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:
• sustainable site development
• water efficiency
• energy efficiency
• materials selection
• indoor environmental quality

“While Interior Health’s goal is to improve the health and wellness of its residents, we understand the linkage between health and the environment,” said Ken Burrows, director with the Interior Health board. “The Clinical Academic Campus is a good example of reducing our environmental impact while at the same time expanding facilities and services.”

The Clinical Academic Campus at KGH is the home of the UBC Faculty of Medicine Southern Medical Program and UBC Rural Family Practice Residency Program. This 34,000-square-foot stand-alone facility officially opened on January 25, 2010 and includes a 180-seat lecture theatre, and specialized video-conferencing rooms and clinical skills areas for medical undergraduates and post-graduate residents. In addition, the Interior Health Dr. Clifford B. Henderson Library and KGH staff are located in this shared building.

The CAC is part of the overall expansion of health-care facilities in Kelowna and Vernon, including the new Polson Tower at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, and the new Centennial Tower under construction at Kelowna General Hospital, a combined investment of $432 million.

Together with their supply chain, Infusion Health designed, financed, built and will operate the Kelowna and Vernon Hospital projects on a long-term basis.

“Infusion Health’s job was to deliver a LEED certified building on time and on budget, an accomplishment we’re celebrating today with our partners,” said Ken Stewart, facilities and operations manager with Infusion Health.

Interior Health is recognized provincially and nationally for its environmental accomplishments. Interior Health was named the Energy & Environmental Stewardship Award recipient for 2011 from the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL), the first organization in Western Canada to receive this award.