As green design turns its eye to health, architects are looking not only at chemical properties in materials but also at the microbes around us to promote environmental health and sustainability and human health.

Rare and minor metals, or chemicals made from metals such as cadmium, titanium and molybdenum, are in everything in our buildings from sheeting, to LEDs, to solar panels, to appliances, equipment and paints. We use them, for example, to enhance steel and prevent corrosion. GreenBiz, more...

Some hospitals’ answers to improving their patient satisfaction scores might already be in their own backyards.

Or, in the case of Connecticut’s New Milford Hospital: in their rooftop gardens.

With a focus on seasonal, unprocessed food and a classically trained chef at the kitchen’s helm, New Milford’s menu resembles that of a chic, farm-to-table restaurant rather than a typical hospital cafeteria: The vegetable dish will depend on what was picked from its rooftop garden that day, or what it received from the nine local farms from which it regularly sources ingredients. The finished product is a healthful menu (a typical dessert is a chickpea chocolate cake, for instance) that New Milford's patients, staff and community have come to love. Hospitals & Health Networks, more...

In the first quarter of 2016, there were 163 transactions of medical office buildings totaling more than $1.8 billion in volume, according to estimates by CBRE, the nation’s largest real estate services provider, in its latest “National Healthcare Real Estate Investor Update.”

By far the largest transaction occurred last January, when a joint venture between Chicago-based Heitman Capital and Denver-based NexCare Group paid $199 million to acquire the 227,628-sf First Hill Medical Pavilion in Seattle.

CBRE observes that the healthcare section continues to be “one of the strongest job generators in the American economy.” Quoting Bureau of Labor Statistics data, CBRE notes that between April 2015 and April 2016, healthcare produced 482,000 jobs, or roughly 18% of the 2.7 million nonfarm jobs formed in the U.S. during that period.
BUILDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, more...

Traveling from BWI to LAX on United, a delightful flight attendant was concerned because he had “stashed” extra water and blankets on the plane for back-up, and another team had used “his” plane and the extra stores were gone! He said that he is always concerned that he doesn’t have everything or enough supplies that he needs to make his guests comfortable.

This sounded like outcomes from recent focus groups with hands-on care givers in long term care settings. Their comments included, “We have to ‘stash’ extra supplies in resident rooms to make sure that we have what we need to make residents and patients more comfortable.” On the surface these may appear to be operational issues, but in many ways, these are also environmental design issues. Storage spaces are rarely considered during the programming and design phase, yet contribute substantially to the quality of life and potential independence of a resident. For example, if storage was located at point of service and supplied according to operational needs, supplies, materials, snacks, and more could all be located and accessible for staff, family, residents and patients when needed. interiors+sources, more...

How Subtle, Clever Architectural Decisions Can Help People Living with Dementia.

Sit down, close your eyes, and try to remember how you got to where you are.

How easy is it for you to visualize the path you took today? How did you remember where to go? Maybe you know to always turn at an important landmark — the tree your mom planted, for example. Maybe there was a sign telling you the right direction.

For people living with dementia, these navigational clues can be hard to read.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, about 5 million Americans live with some form of dementia. Dementia isn't a single disease — rather, it's a broad category of cognitive and neurological symptoms. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, but there are many others, including strokes or Parkinson's disease.

Dementia can interfere with many of the brain's mental processes, including spatial memory — the part of the brain that deals with navigation. This is why many people living with dementia may sometimes find it hard to get around, even in familiar places.

Clever design decisions — like the use of color — help reinforce and strengthen the residents' spatial memory. Upworthy, more...

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