Olmsted Medical Center — Northwest Clinic Receives LEED Certification

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Olmsted Medical Center—Northwest Clinic, designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, has been awarded LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.

Completed in 2011, this two-story, 65,000-square-foot clinic expands primary-care outpatient services in a growing area of Rochester, Minn. with family medicine, health and wellness, internal medicine, lab, pediatrics, radiology, rehabilitation services and physical therapy services. The building features a glass and limestone façade with prominent entry porte-cochere and light-filled interiors.

Sustainable features include low-flow plumbing fixtures, natural daylighting and a geothermal heat pump heating-and-cooling system.

“The geothermal system supports energy efficiency and reduces operational costs using the stable 55 F ground temperature to both cool and heat the building by circulating water through a network of 13 miles of water piping installed below the parking lot,” said Dave Thiel, PE, LEED AP, associate vice president and director of mechanical engineering at HGA in Rochester, Minn. “The below-ground polyethylene piping is essentially maintenance free and will last more than 50 years, providing long-term cost benefits and clean energy for the clinic.”

Other geothermal systems developed by HGA include the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minn.; B.H. Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn.; the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center in Milwaukee, Wis.; the Adolescent Treatment Center in Winnebago, Minn. and the Graham Ice Arena on the Olmsted County Fairgrounds in Rochester, Minn., which won a national Public Works Project of the Year Award.