Green hospitals: Acoustical challenges and opportunities.

The United States Green Building Council and Green Guide for Healthcare have each adopted portions of the new American Institute of Architects (AIA) Interim Sound and Vibration Design Guidelines as the Reference Standard as points for their rating system. This paper gives a brief overview of the AIA guidelines, how they are addressed by these two leading sustainability rating systems, and how they impact the design of future healthcare facilities. Sustainable practices are changing to include acoustics and vibration design. However, even the best intent has some of its own challenges. How will healthcare facility design benefit from these design changes to include sound and vibration and what are the potential pitfalls?