Andrew Quirk, national director of Skanska USA's Healthcare Center of Excellence, expects more healthcare organizations to go in this direction. For example, Kaiser Permanente has committed to seeking LEED gold certification for all its new buildings.
Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction Group worked on a combined heat-and-power system for the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center campus in Bel Air. It uses exhaust heat from the building's power generator to deliver heat and electrical power.
The Modern Healthcare survey found that U.S. construction and design companies did slightly less work last year in other countries. Many had sought work on foreign projects during the Great Recession. Almost 22% of respondents worked on foreign projects in 2014, down from 26% in both 2013 and 2012.
Survey participants reported working on projects in 32 foreign countries. Twelve companies had projects in China, six in both the United Kingdom and Canada, and five had projects in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.