WORCESTER MEDICINE
Climate Change
Our Patients and The Planet: Studying Medicine in a Changing Climate Continued recognize the people of color and indigenous leaders who have been caring for the Earth for centuries and learn from their wisdom. We must cultivate the creativity necessary for developing climate solutions and expand our understanding of what is possible when we work together toward a common goal. Finally, we must tackle climate change with the strength and urgency required to ensure a better life for our patients, families, communities, and the generations to come, all of whom will be affected by climate change and all of whom deserve the chance for a healthier, safer, more just future. +
Sustainability in Support of Public Health Suzanne Wood
T
he health of our environment is one of
the foundations of public health. This is the central idea that drives the facilities team at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) to create a more sustainable campus and enable the vital missions of our students and faculty. UMMS has had a formal sustainability program since 2004. Our initiatives focus on three areas: buildings, processes, and people. We can influence the built environment and operating processes directly, and we promote awareness to encourage people in our community to make more sustainable choices in their daily lives, such as recycling and greener commuting options. Our first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building opened in 2010. The Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) earned a Silver designation for numerous sustainable features, including a white roof to diminish the “heat island effect” by reflecting rather than absorbing heat; a tight exterior building envelope with tinted, reflective, and insulated glass; and an east-west building orientation to minimize the number of south-facing windows. Water use in the ACC is approximately 30 percent less than a conventional building because of automatic low-flow/ low-flush plumbing fixtures. Electricity consumption is reduced by sophisticated controls for heating, cooling, and lighting. In 2013, a larger and more ambitious building, the Albert Sherman Center (ASC) opened and achieved LEED Gold certification. The combination of efficient design, sustainable building practices, and advanced technologies integrated at the ASC enables the building to operate 25 percent more efficiently, consuming 4.1 million fewer kilowatt hours of electricity, using 30 percent less water, and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 4.5 million pounds annually, as compared to similar buildings of standard design. Among the key technologies used in the ASC are occupancy sensors for lighting, heating, and cooling of offices and conference rooms; heat recovery wheels which allow the building to exhaust stale air and draw in fresh air while retaining most of the heat in the building; variable speed fans, with sash sensors, on
Emily Gentile, B.S., is a third-year medical student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Email: emily.gentile@umassmed.edu references
1. Samson, J., Berteaux, D., McGill, B.J. and Humphries, M.M. (2011), Geographic disparities and moral hazards in the predicted impacts of climate change on human populations. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 20: 532-544. https:// doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00632.x 2. Vimal Mishra et al. (2017), Heat wave exposure in India in current, 1.5 °C, and 2.0 °C worlds. Environ. Res. Lett. 12 124012. https://iopscience.iop.org/ article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa9388 3. World Bank 2013, Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience. A report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. Washington, DC:World Bank. License: Creative Commons Attribution—NonCommercial–NoDerivatives3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 4. Sunrise Movement, https://www.sunrisemovement.org/about/?ms=AboutTheSunriseMovement 5. Medical Students for a Sustainable Future, https://ms4sf.org/aboutms4sf/ 6. Karmalkar AV and Bradley RS (2017), Consequences of Global Warming of 1.5 °C and 2 °C for Regional Temperature and Precipitation Changes in the Contiguous United States. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0168697. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0168697
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