Why DaVita Healthcare was awarded LEED Platinum Certification
An independent medical ground and leading provider of kidney care in the United States, DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. announced its world headquarters was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification for Operations and Maintenance by the U.S. Green Building Council.
DaVita World Headquarters is the fourth LEED Platinum building in Denver, and fifth in Colorado. The LEED Platinum certification is the highest recognition a building can earn from the U.S. Green Building Council.
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The building was awarded points for alternative commuting transportation, water reduction, waste management and optimized energy efficiency performance.
"We believe in the connection between a healthy environment and the health of our patients and teammates," said CEO of DaVita Healthcare Partners Kent Thiry. "Our environmental goals challenge us to steward resources while delivering high quality patient care."
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DaVita also set new five-year environmental commitment goals. The plan focuses on opportunities to continue reducing its environmental impact on energy and water use, waste production and building and supply chain management across the country.
DaVita Kidney Care organized its 2020 Environmental Goals into five categories:
Energy: Reduce energy use and carbon emissions by 10 percent per treatment.
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Water: Reduce water use by 30 percent per treatment.
Buildings: Build one new LEED-certified clinic as a prototype, certify major offices as LEED Silver and implement internal certification for remaining buildings.
Waste: Increase solid waste recycling to 45 percent and transition to reusable sharps containers in 70 percent of chronic care facilities.
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Supply Chain: Increase availability of environmentally preferable products and equipment, reduce packaging and conduct annual reviews with national vendors to assess sustainability practices.
With a 2020 environmental commitment plan with higher benchmarks of similar goals outlined for 2015, DaVita met or surpassed three out of the five 2015 goals, including reducing water use by 30 percent per treatment and increasing procurement of environmentally preferable products and equipment.
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