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Spectrum Health’s Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion Awarded

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., October 28, 2009 – Spectrum Heath announced today that the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion has been awarded LEED gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The pavilion is the first health care facility in Michigan to receive gold certification. LEED is the USGBC’s leading rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings.

“Spectrum Health is proud to be the first health care facility in the state to receive this achievement,” said Matt Van Vranken, executive vice president, Spectrum Health and president, Spectrum Health Hospital Group.  “Not only did we create a space designed to compassionately care for cancer patients but we also designed a facility that conserves environmental resources.”

Spectrum Health worked with URS Corporation and The Christman Company to purposely design and build the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies.

“Designing a health care facility to achieve LEED certification presents many unique challenges. Through the collaboration of our design team, Spectrum Health and The Christman Company, we were able to set the standard in the state of Michigan for LEED certification of a health care facility.” said Joseph P. Greenan, AIA, ACHA, vice president/ national healthcare business line director, URS Corporation.

“We worked very closely with our design partners at URS to help Spectrum Health achieve their green building goals,” said Daniel LaMore, vice president of West Michigan operations, The Christman Company, who served as the project principal. “We strive to be experts, leaders and partners in this growing facet of our industry, and the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion project is a testament to the synchronicity of utility and sustainability.”

LEED gold certification was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community. These features include:

• Reduction of urban heat island effect through the use of underground parking, reflective roofing and vegetated roof areas
• Reduced water use through low flow plumbing fixtures, rainwater collection and high efficiency irrigation
• Energy savings from high performance building envelope, heat recovery, HVAC, and lighting design and controls
• Reduced impact on environment through use of regional products and products containing recycled content
• Healthy indoor environment through selection and use of materials that minimize emission of indoor air contaminants

The Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion opened in June of 2008. The six-story, 284,000-square-foot facility is home to the region’s widest, most advanced array of outpatient cancer services within a single, exceptional healing environment.

About the U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since USGBC’s founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 17,000 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® green building rating systems, an expansive educational offering, and a network of 78 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

About LEED®

The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating SystemTM is a feature-oriented rating system that awards buildings points for satisfying specified green building criteria. Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels of LEED green building certification are awarded based on the total number of points earned within each LEED category. LEED can be applied to all building types including new construction, commercial interiors, core & shell developments, existing buildings, homes, neighborhood developments, schools and retail facilities. LEED for Healthcare is currently under development and is expected to be released in the near future.

About Spectrum Health

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan that offers a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, a collection of seven hospitals and more than 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and  mmpc, multispecialty physician groups with more than 400 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with nearly 500,000 members. Spectrum Health’s 17,000 employees, 1,500 medical staff members and 2,000 volunteers are committed to delivering the highest quality care. The organization provided $111.1 million in community benefit during its 2008 fiscal year. As a system, Spectrum Health has earned more than 100 awards during the past 10 years.

About URS

“URS Corporation is a leading provider of engineering, construction and technical services for public agencies and private sector companies around the world. The Company offers a full range of program management; planning, architectural design and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance; construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure services. URS provides services for power, infrastructure, industrial and commercial, and federal projects and programs. Headquartered in San Francisco, the Company operates through three divisions: the URS Division, the EG&G Division and the Washington Division. URS Corporation has more than 50,000 employees in a network of offices in more than 30 countries (www.urscorp.com).”

About The Christman Company

The Christman Company, founded in 1894, has grown to become one of the country’s leading professional construction services firms. The company’s services consist of management, general contracting, design/build, real estate development, facilities consulting and self-perform skilled trades. Christman is currently ranked 172 in the Engineering News-Record 400 list of top contractors nationally. Christman is currently managing a vast array of projects in several key market sectors, including historical preservation, healthcare, educational, office, science and technology, and industrial. Christman’s corporate headquarters is located in Lansing, with statewide locations in Grand Rapids, Traverse City and Livonia, and national locations in Alexandra, Va, and Augusta, Ga. (www.christmanco.com)