Recently, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its annual list of Top 10 States for LEED. According to the report, Illinois topped the list at #1, which ranks states based on the number of LEED certified square feet per person. As a proud provider of sustainability and LEED consulting services, Primera is thrilled to have supported the efforts leading to this prestigious recognition. However, we are even more excited that USGBC selected one of our projects to feature as one of the leading LEED projects in Illinois – the Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital (NMLFH).

Primera provided LEED Consulting services for the NMLFH project, which consisted of a new four-story replacement hospital facility located in Lake Forest, Illinois. The master plan for this project called for the northern part of the building to focus on patient care and the southern portion to focus on the academic side, within a single facility. The overall site is over 170 acres with 7,000 feet of pedestrian and bicycle paths and also includes a retention pond. Primera’s team led three separate and distinct teams through the LEED process. The three phases of the project included the main hospital, clinic spaces within the hospital, and the new central plant which supports the new facilities. Primera worked with each separate team to address the unique challenges for each distinctive design element. The coordination challenges were also met head on by Primera who reviewed all the overlapping issues that occurred through the natural design process. Comprehensive review of all the energy credits was critical to the overall success of the project, and this review was also led by our in-house energy modeling experts.

The final design promotes environmental sustainability throughout its structure, as well as energy-saving and water-saving features integrated within the design. The redeveloped campus, which opened in March 2018 achieved LEED Silver certification. For additional project information please click here.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s vision is that buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation. Their mission is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. Visit the USGBC website now.