Green Building

CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living promises to be the first building of its kind in East Texas, and CHRISTUS Good Shepherd’s goal is to lead the community by example and help make green building a standard way of doing business. Sustainable, or “green,” design, is one of the fastest moving trends in architectural and interior design.  CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living has been designed with five broad ideals of sustainability in mind:

• Site Planning
• Water Conservation
• Energy Efficiency
• Materials & Resources
• Air Quality

These design features and construction elements will poise CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.  

To view more information about CHRISTUS Good Shepherd’s commitment to the LEED Green initiative and how CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living meets the criteria, click here.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Institute for Healthy Living will provide and promote a healthy lifestyle through exercise, healthy diet and inspired rehabilitation. From earthwork through construction, from design through occupancy and operation, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd is committed to creating a superior building that helps the environment while enhancing the health and comfort of the Longview Community.

Site Planning

Site development plans will conserve open space and create an aquatic-based habitat for natural inhabitants by restoring an existing pond and investing in the reforestation of the neighboring undeveloped land.

Water Conservation

Water Conservation measures such as dual flush toilets, low flow urinals, water-saving shower heads, and automatic fixtures will be used throughout the building. Overall water use will be reduced by more than 40 percent over conventional plumbing designs, and clean rooftop storm run-off will be used to supply the pond and marshlands.

Energy Efficiency

Various building energy systems will be used to save up to 20 percent of energy over conventionally designed buildings. A solar-powered heating system will be used to supplement conventional fuel sources for heating the indoor pools. Superior building insulation and high-efficiency light fixtures, energy-saving glass, and ozone-enhanced cold water systems for laundering towels are just a few examples of the ingenious methods being used for energy conservation at CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living.

Materials & Resources

By using renewable resources as building materials and incorporating construction processes that conserve energy, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd has succeeded in creating the region’s first “Green Building” in CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living.

The architectural details and design elements of CHRISTUS Institute for Healthy Living were created with natural, recycled and environmentally friendly materials. The Healthy Living Spa will feature recycled glass, natural cork flooring and natural grass cloth wall coverings. Mind-Body-Spirit studios boast bamboo flooring and the pool deck is made from recycled glass and ceramic material. Unique carpeting throughout the Institute contains recycled content as well.

In order to promote local materials and reduce transportation-related energy consumption, the building designers committed to specifying up to 20 percent of the necessary materials from local and regional producers within a 500 mile radius. In addition, the designers committed to specifying architectural products and materials with up to 59 percent recycled content. This helps to create a market for recycled materials and creates a visual demonstration of the many fine and durable finish materials which can be derived from otherwise wasted resources.

Air Quality

Indoor air quality will be assured by CHRISTUS Good Shepherd’s no smoking policy as well as the use of low emitting materials for adhesives, sealants, paints, carpet, composite materials and other synthetics. The specially-designed air conditioning system will increase the amount of fresh, outdoor air delivered to the building in order to maintain high quality indoor air.