Colorado hospital takes the LEED.

By designing an on-site recycling program, including green building features in its design and practicing environmentally friendly construction, Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, Boulder, Colo., has become the first and only hospital in the United States to earn certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, according to a story in the Denver Post.

The hospital's Web site notes that Foothills followed LEED criteria requiring that 50 percent of construction scrap must be salvaged or recycled. The Foothills construction on-site recycling program, with containers for recycling wood, metal, cardboard and concrete, achieved a landfill diversion rate of 71 percent, according to the hospital.

The Post reports that a number of green features helped the year-old, 200,O0O-square-foot hospital campus earn its distinction. During its construction, which was completed last year, unfinished ductwork was capped to reduce dust and indoor air pollution.

Workers also installed systems that provided better ventilation, according to the Post.

The 71 percent material diversion rate--stemming from the effort to earn its LEED certification by offering recycling bins for CSD debris during construction--well exceeded LEED's 50 percent minimum, the Post reports.

Other green building features included in the hospital's design are flaxseed floors, emphasis on letting in natural sunlight and electric car charging ports.

"This is a very environmentally conscious community, and we wanted to reflect that value," Rich Sheehan, a hospital spokesman, tells the Denver Post.