THE WELLNESS FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE DESIGN : POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION OF TWO SINGAPORE HOSPITALS

Abstract

There have been many studies that suggest well-designed healthcare buildings can bring out tangible therapeutic benefits for patients through measuring behavior and outcome. With increasing empirical results further confirming the direct link of patients’ recovery rate, wellness, pain and stress with their recuperation environment, new hospital designs now have the opportunity to incorporate not only updated medical technology but more critically, beneficial designs to deliver actual and perceived quality care. However, how do green hospitals fare in patient wellness outcomes? While green accredited buildings contribute to using fewer natural resources through conservative electrical and water consumption, can a green hospital also deliver better patient outcomes? The paper attempts to study the benefits of a green hospital building towards patient outcomes. Research field work is conducted on two green accredited hospitals where measurements are taken to validate the results from environmental strategies parallel with an analysis of environmental factors that brought forth patient wellness. Ultimately, this paper seeks to investigate the role of greening in patient wellness factor and whether the two compared green hospitals have the same wellness factors.