{"id":134896,"date":"2023-04-24T11:44:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T15:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=134896"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:32:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:32:41","slug":"ucf-lake-nona-hospital-is-leed-gold-certified-a-first-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-lake-nona-hospital-is-leed-gold-certified-a-first-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Lake Nona Hospital Is LEED Gold Certified \u2014 A First In Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"
UCF Lake Nona Hospital announced Friday it received LEED Gold certification \u2014 the first and only hospital in Florida and only the 28th<\/sup> in the nation \u2014 to achieve this green building designation. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, (USGBC), is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and an international symbol of excellence.<\/p>\n UCF Lake Nona Hospital is a joint venture between the university and HCA Healthcare that opened two years ago adjacent to the UCF College of Medicine in the heart of Lake Nona\u2019s Medical City. In addition to providing needed in-patient care to non-veteran adults in the community, the hospital serves as an education site for UCF medical and nursing students and a site for collaborative medical research.<\/p>\n The designation recognizes the hospital\u2019s commitment to sustainable building products and energy-saving operations, including:<\/p>\n \u201cToday we celebrate another step towards creating improved health and wellness in Lake Nona and Central Florida. Sustainability is a growing priority and we are excited about this recognition by the USGBC,\u201d says Wendy Brandon, CEO of UCF Lake Nona Hospital.\u201cThis is one more way I am proud of the work we are doing at UCF Lake Nona Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n Through design, construction and operations practices that improve environmental and human health, LEED-certified buildings are helping to make the world more sustainable. In the U.S. alone, buildings account for almost 40% of national CO2 emissions, but LEED-certified buildings have 34 percent lower CO2 emissions, consume 25% less energy and 11% less water, and have diverted more than 80 million tons of waste from landfills. UCF is home to 30 other LEED certified buildings, including the College of Medicine in Lake Nona, Dr. Phillips Academic Commons at UCF Downtown and Classroom Building II on main campus.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an exceptional accomplishment for both UCF and HCA,\u201d says Amy Pastor, USGBC Central Florida Board chair, who attended Friday\u2019s announcement. \u201cYou are among the best and you will be known worldwide for this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLEED was created to make the world a better place and revolutionize our buildings and communities by providing everyone with access to healthy, green and high performing buildings,” says Peter Templeton, president and CEO of USGBC. “UCF Lake Nona Hospital is a prime example of how the innovative work of project teams can create local solutions that contribute to making a global difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The designation, announced the day before Earth Day, recognizes the hospital\u2019s commitment to sustainable building products and energy-saving operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":134897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[979,22543,4546,54098],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-134896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-healthcare","tag-sustainability","tag-ucf-lake-nona-hospital"],"yoast_head":"\n\n