Since its founding in 1998, the Facilities Guidelines Institute has been developing, revising, and publishing guidelines for the construction and renovation of hospitals and outpatient facilities. In 2010, it came out with guidelines that specifically addressed noise and vibration. Last year, it published guidelines for residential healthcare facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living centers.
FGI’s guidelines have a way of insinuating themselves into state healthcare facility codes. Its call, in 2006, for single-bed patient rooms to be an “absolute” for medical, surgical, and obstetric rooms has become the standard for new hospital construction. Forty-two states have adopted FGI guidelines, in part or in full, says FGI’s CEO Douglas Erickson, FASHE, CHFM, HFDP, CHC.
The healthcare industry has largely embraced FGI guidelines. “Hospitals are pressing the AEC community to at least advise the owner about the latest guidelines, and then let the owner decide if it wants to take the leap,” says Erickson.
FGI gets about a thousand suggestions for new guidelines or revisions from the public every year, says the institute’s Chairman and President, Kurt Rockstroh, FAIA, FACHA, President/CEO, Steffian Bradley Architects & Planners. Those ideas are vetted by steering and revision committees; if accepted, they are turned into draft documents and submitted for public comment. A cost-benefits committee serves as another filter. Eventually all of FGI’s committee members vote on whether a proposal becomes a guideline. Each four-year revision cycle costs FGI about $2 million.
The 2014 revised guidelines touch on six factors that affect a hospital’s soundscape:
1. Site exterior noise
2. Acoustic finishes and details
3. Room noise levels and minimum sound coefficients for various types of rooms
4. Sound isolation and speech privacy
5. Alarms and sound-masking techniques
6. Vibration
Because FGI does not include suppliers or manufacturers on its committee, its revision cycle is not ANSI-approved, although it does follow ANSI protocols as much as possible, says Erickson. The 2018 revisions, which will be voted on by 105 committee members, are likely to include guidelines about alarm fatigue in hospitals.
Related Stories
| Sep 12, 2011
Living Buildings: Are AEC Firms up to the Challenge?
Modular Architecture > You’ve done a LEED Gold or two, maybe even a LEED Platinum. But are you and your firm ready to take on the Living Building Challenge? Think twice before you say yes.
| May 18, 2011
New center provides home to medical specialties
Construction has begun on the 150,000-sf Medical Arts Pavilion at the University Medical Center in Princeton, N.J.
| May 5, 2011
Hospitals launch quiet campaigns to drown out noise of modern medicine
Worldwide, sound levels inside hospitals average 72 decibels during the day and 60 decibels at night, which far exceeds the standard of 40 decibels or less, set by the World Health Organization. The culprit: modern medicine. In response, hospitals throughout Illinois and the U.S. are launching "quiet campaigns" that include eliminating intercom paging, replacing metal trash cans, installing sound-absorbing flooring and paneling, and dimming lights at night to remind staff to keep their voices down.
| Apr 14, 2011
USGBC debuts LEED for Healthcare
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) introduces its latest green building rating system, LEED for Healthcare. The rating system guides the design and construction of both new buildings and major renovations of existing buildings, and can be applied to inpatient, outpatient and licensed long-term care facilities, medical offices, assisted living facilities and medical education and research centers.
| Apr 13, 2011
Virginia hospital’s prescription for green construction: LEED Gold
Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Va., is the commonwealth’s first inpatient healthcare facility to earn LEED Gold. The 630,000-sf facility was designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with commissioning consultant SSRCx, both of Nashville.
| Apr 12, 2011
Mental hospital in Boston redeveloped as healthcare complex
An abandoned state mental health facility in Boston’s prestigious Longwood Medical Area is being transformed into the Mass Mental Health Center, a four-building mixed-use complex that includes a mental health day hospital, a clinical and office building, a medical research facility for Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a residential facility.
| Mar 17, 2011
Perkins Eastman launches The Green House prototype design package
Design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to join The Green House project and NCB Capital Impact in announcing the launch of The Green House Prototype Design Package. The Prototype will help providers develop small home senior living communities with greater efficiency and cost savings—all to the standards of care developed by The Green House project.
