Organized Labor

Hospital to be First in California to Implement Sustainable Features in Design, Construction, Operations

By Paul Burton
Contributing Writer

The second phase of the Laguna Honda Hospital Replacement Program is on schedule with the construction of a fourth residence building that replaces one of the hospital complex’s 80-year-old buildings. Located on a woody hillside west of Twin Peaks, the 62-acre Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center campus is a skilled nursing institution that  offers long-term care.

Laguna Honda’s renovation and replacement includes 500,000 square feet of new construction and 150,000 square feet of remodeling. The hospital is one of the nation’s largest single-site skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities. The project includes the construction and renovation of three campuses: the South Residence Building, the Link Building, and the East Residence Building. Together, they will accommodate 780 beds, increasing the hospital’s bed capacity to 1,200.

The first phase began in 2005 and included renovation of an existing residence building into administrative offices as well as the construction of the three new residence buildings.

The second phase involved demolition of Clarendon Hall, and replacing it with the fourth new residence hall. The new campus will feature physical therapy, occupational therapy, a therapy pool, fitness room, beauty/barber shop, gift shop, and multi-purpose room, as well as dental, vision and dialysis clinics and 60 beds dedicated to rehabilitation (both acute care and skilled nursing).

Turner Construction is the General Contractor for the project, with dozens of operating engineers, carpenters, laborers, cement masons, iron workers, glaziers, painters and other trades on the job. ProVen Management Inc. of San Francisco did the initial demolition work, utility transfers, grading and construction of a central plant. The Department of Public Works (DPW) is managing the major capital improvement project for the City’s Department of Public Health, which operates the hospital.

DPW Project Manager John Thomas said the new facility will be the first green hospital in California to implement sustainable features in its design, construction, and operations. “We are on target to meet stringent environmental standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program,” he said. “The LEED program is the leading industry standard for designating green buildings. Certification will be official when the hospital is commissioned in 2010.”

According to DPW, the hospital’s three new buildings address environmental impacts in their design, construction and operation across six LEED-designated categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. Some highlights of the greening of Laguna Honda include use of natural light, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, and recycling of construction debris.

According to the DPW, 75 percent of the construction waste, including scraps, demolition debris, and packaging material usually labeled solid waste has been recycled instead of being sent to the landfill. The concrete and asphalt from old parking lots demolished during construction was crushed and reused as base material under the new roads and parking areas. The hospital is built with many materials that have a high quantity of recycled content, including the ceramic tile, which is made with recycled glass, and ceiling tiles which is made with recycled ceiling panels and newsprint.

Thomas said the hospital would see a savings of about $7 million in energy costs over the first 10 years after construction is completed. Other energy-efficient practices include insulated exterior walls and windows specially designed to reduce air conditioning and heating needs. A new Link building, which joins the old buildings to the new ones, is designed to allow photovoltaic panels to be installed on its roof, and other building’s roofs are constructed to keep the buildings cooler on hot days and reduce energy use.

Water conservation will be realized through “closed-loop” air conditioning systems that reuse water, the use of auto-on water faucets, and use of evaporative cooling systems that integrate the unique micro-climate of Laguna Honda and eliminate the need for cooling towers.

The new facilities will also see improved indoor air quality through the use of a natural ventilation system in the hospital which provides fresh, outside air to the buildings. In addition, the project uses many building materials that do not emit any volatile organic compounds (VOCs ) that can be carcinogenic, and uses paints, wood, glues, and flooring materials that do not emit high quantities of VOCs and other indoor air contaminants.

DPW’s Thomas said that the next phase of the project will see the complete remodel of Wings C & H in 2011. Then, later that year, the hazardous materials abatement, demolition, and renovations of several other wings will occur.

Construction of the new facilities is funded by a $299 million bond measure approved by San Francisco voters in the fall of 1999; original costs of the replacement program were estimated to be $401 million. With some delays and a spike in the cost of concrete and other construction materials, the current budget is $540 million. In addition to the bonds, the project is funded by the Tobacco Settlement Revenue that is paid to cities and the state by tobacco companies as part of the settlement of a lawsuit that obligates the companies to pay for the health impacts of tobacco use.

According to the DPW, the new hospital is approximately 70 percent complete. The installation of the interior wall framing and installation of drywall continues in the Link and South Residence Buildings and Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing installation is underway in all three buildings. Stucco at the Link Building is underway and is scheduled to be complete and the scaffolding will be removed by mid-November. Stucco is currently being applied to the East Residence Building and will be completed by the first of next year. Resident mock-rooms in the South Residence Building is under construction and is projected to be complete by the end of the year.

Turner completed the West and South Wing interior abatements and the North Wing interior abatement is underway. The exterior abatement of the West Wing will be complete by the end of October. Interior demolition of the West Wing will began in early September with exterior demolition to begin at the end of the month. The West Wing will then be cut from the rest of the building, and demolished. The remainder of the demolition will proceed in this fashion, and the building is to be demolished in pieces.

The project also includes some seismic upgrade construction, repaving the ADA ramp, installing a handrail, and modifying the stairs with additional steps.

The project is expected to be completed in 2013.