Howie Hanson, Howie E-Blog
DULUTH, MN – SMDC’s new Duluth Clinic-Lakeside, which opened in September 2008, has been recognized with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for
its environmentally sustainable construction. The basic LEED designation was awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council and means the Lakeside Clinic, in addition to being a state-of-the-art medical facility, is a state-of-the-art healthy building as well.
SMDC leases the building at 4621 E. Superior St., which is owned by A&L Properties. The project’s architect was DSGW Architects. Johnson-Wilson Constructors was the general contractor.
“We’re in the healthcare business and we wanted this building to mesh with our mission,” Harvey Anderson, SMDC’s Vice President of Facilities, said in a prepared statement. “The clinic needed to be a sustainable building, designed with patients and staff in mind. We wanted the interior environment to be chemical-free and odor-free.”
“This is the first LEED-certified building for our firm and to achieve this honor has been very gratifying,” said DSGW architect Rebecca Lewis, former national president of the American College of Healthcare Architects. “We knew it was a goal of SMDC to have a better clinic for its employees and its customers and this project has been well worth it.” To get the LEED certification, many factors are taken into consideration — from the little things, such as bike racks and the location of the clinic on a Duluth Transit Authority bus line, to the big things, such as low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint and carpeting.
Ryan Turner, a LEED-certified DSGW architect who also helped with the project, praised SMDC’s Facility Planning/Architecture Manager Karl Ruthenback and his staff for their assistance. “It was an open, collaborative process,” Turner said.