VA Outpatient Facilities Earn Green Globes Certifications

Two facilities designed by Hoefer Welker, in partnership with U.S. Federal Properties, have achieved Green Globes for New Construction certification. The two projects – located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Lubbock, Texas – are community-based outpatient clinics for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Administered by the Green Building Initiative, Green Globes is a nationally recognized green rating assessment and certification system. The contractor for the Lubbock facility is Jacobsen Construction; Meyer-Najem served as contractor on the Chattanooga facility.

The certified facility in Chattanooga, a 95,000-square-foot veterans’ outpatient clinic that sits on more than 17 acres, prioritized a sustainable design in several areas, including daylighting features, Green Globes-standard air ventilation, moisture and mold mitigation strategies and an overall focus on health and wellness throughout the building. During the construction process, the team also enlisted a specialist to relocate an onsite colony of more than 200,000 bees rather than exterminate them.

Sustainability highlights for the 94,000-square-foot clinic in Lubbock, Texas include a climate-responsive design, an energy-efficient mechanical system, daylight harvesting and native plantings. The design optimized energy usage, while maintaining natural light and exposure to the surrounding landscape through factors such as the building’s orientation, shading control and low-e glazing.