Ceiling Systems for High Performing Healthcare Facilities
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the importance of high NRC ceilings in a healthcare environment.
- Identify how high-performing ceilings can impact infection control.
- Define how ceiling specification increases natural daylighting.
- Discuss how high-performing ceilings can affect operations and maintenance in a healthcare setting.
- Define the connection between high-performing ceilings and a project’s sustainability goals.
This course is part of the Healthcare Academy
Few specifications could be as important as those for hospitals and healthcare facilities. The ceiling system plays an important part in the overall healthiness of the building, as well as the patients and staff. Attention should be given to ceiling systems with excellent acoustic performance to cut down on noise that makes staff irritable and inhibits patient healing. The ceiling system can save energy on lighting and cooling. It can help prevent mold and infections with its cleanability. It can be made of recycled and recyclable materials. And a full palette of colors can help create a warm and inviting setting appealing to patients, staff, and visitors alike.
Photo courtesy of michaelocallahan.com
The new 220,000-square-foot Kaiser Permanente medical office in Mission Bay in San Francisco, California, utilized acoustic stone wool and metal ceiling panels to help create a healthy environment for patients and medical staff.