The laboratory incorporates best practices in a physical setting to showcase the freshest innovations in design. "We try to get people in and talking about it to see where these ideas work together and where they conflict with each other in a real-world build scenario rather than just a theoretical paper conversation or exercise," he says.

From Krehlik's vantage point, the economy hasn't diminished the interest in hospital construction projects centered on green design, sustainability and EBD.

"What we've seen in the last 18 months or so is a shift in the reasoning behind the interest. As recent as a year or two ago, a lot of the interest was coming through altruistic reasons. Decision makers just thought it was the right thing to do," he posits. "More recently, we're seeing reasoning that's more about the ability to raise public relations or to use [these initiative] for potential philanthropic selling points."

These days, the origin of the push doesn't matter to HCA's Brian Weldy. "Sustainability truly is a journey," he muses. "There is no endpoint. Every little thing you do in the direction of improvement is a good thing. Some have a higher velocity at which they move forward than others. But the way I look at it, as long as you're making progress in some fashion that's a good thing."

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