According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hospitals and nursing facilities are among the most hazardous work environments. Building Science is being applied to the construction field so it makes sense to scale it into how the health care industry builds new facilities or how they plan for future renovations. Green Building represents the opportunity to address a healthier more efficient structure for patients and consumers when seeking medical care. For the health care systems large and small, they can continue to offer their services while reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) their establishments emit into the atmosphere.
Many health care workers are unaware of the potential health hazards in their work environment. It is timely to learn of green initiatives in business and now it is critical to include health care facilities and professions and what they can do to participate in the new green revolution. The new “green” revolution offers unparalleled opportunity. Those in the health care arena must embrace the opportunity that awaits them and when management understands the environmental impact of implementing a sound energy and waste management plan, their stakeholders will take notice of their dedication. Energy savings will show in their own bottom line and with proper branding efforts and outreach, the community will recognize these efforts. Employees will be drawn to be an intricate part of the process of protecting supply chains and future business goals.
Why would insurance professionals be interested in green buildings? Why should carriers have an interest in carbon reporting? Normally, only benefits of green building are highlighted but going green exposes risk. The insurance professional must become aware of what the green economy means to their profession. Green building is just the beginning. There are additional issues to learn about such as the interior air quality of structures, climate change, first costs in construction and lifecycle issues. These will relate to net present value but more importantly, caring about these issues for your client base and your industry is the right thing to do.
Insurers will need to play their part in education for their clients in business as well as for their residential clients to understand why sustainability is now an issue from the insurer’s perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and waste management basics are important to us all. Green economics are beginning to spread into an insurer’s products and coverage options. The more information shared on green innovations, the more these new technologies are changing lifestyle ad the more they need to be considered in methodologies for assessing risk. As actuaries are provided data, insurers will need to adjust and while most agree the data may be slow in coming, the green building industry is growing by leaps and bounds. As long as we can quantify the benefits for energy savings and healthier indoor air quality that can be documented, an environmental lifestyle can be recognized this will all need to be factored in to create insurance products.
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