The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today unveiled a rating system intended to guide the energy-efficient design and sustainable construction of health-care facilities.

The latest among Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification programs such as LEED for Commercial Interiors and LEED for Neighborhood Development, LEED for Healthcare may be applied to long-term care facilities, assisted-living facilities, medical education and research centers, and other medical offices buildings.

The USGBC collaborated with the Green Guide for Healthcare, a project of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Health Care Without Harm, as it developed the new program. LEED for Healthcare passed the USGBC member ballot in November 2010.

“Research has shown that when we are treated and heal in a green health-care facility – one that has a healthy indoor environmental quality and connects us to the outdoors – we heal faster, have shorter hospital stays and fewer return visits,” said Scot Horst, a senior vice president with the USGBC. “LEED for Healthcare is now six years in the making, addressing the health-care industry’s unique green building needs.”

More than 225 health-care projects have received LEED certification, and another 1,176 have been registered as LEED projects. The program was developed to meet the unique needs of high-performance operational facilities, including process water use related to medical equipment, rural locations and patient populations.