HOSPITAL BUILDING MATERIALS

1. FLOORING

Top Hospital Flooring Options

From cleanliness and accessibility to heavy wear, wayfinding and promoting

a healing environment — hospitals face many daily demands. Your flooring is no
exception, and it’s a crucial part of creating a quality care setting. In this
article, we show you hospital flooring options for various areas of your
facility and explore the core requirements your floors must meet in 2019.
Entrance areas

Entrances are the first area patients, families and visitors see in your
hospital. They help your patrons locate services, and they see the heaviest foot
traffic and rolling loads. You’ll want a durable, welcoming floor that promotes
your design vision and makes a strong first impression.
We highly recommend terrazzo and luxury vinyl tile (LVT) for entrance
areas. Terrazzo is a premium, highly durable option that requires minimal
maintenance and lasts for decades. It stands up well to rolling loads, is
handicap-friendly and is now available in largely recyclable materials. LVT
offers much of the same durability and even more design versatility.

Corridors and clinical areas

Corridors are the main arteries of your hospital and see heavy use 24-7,
including foot traffic and heavy rolling loads, such as equipment carts,
stretchers, med carts and wheelchairs. To minimize disruptions, flooring in
corridors requires rapid installation and must be highly durable to minimize
maintenance. Themed and patterned flooring with lively colors can help you
create clear paths that identify care areas. Corridor flooring can help reduce
stress and promote healing by supporting an evidence-based design scheme.
Rubber and LVT are two popular hospital flooring options that meet all of
these performance requirements. Both save time during installation, as they can
come with pre-applied adhesive on the backings. Free-floating LVT options even
cut out adhesives altogether. Both rubber and LVT can come with protective
coatings that resist scratches and scuffs, reducing maintenance disruptions,
labor, water, and chemicals. Both come in a variety of textures, colors, and
patterns. LVT, in particular, emulates soothing natural textures, such as wood,
stone and more, but with better durability and a lower price than traditional
materials.
Emergency and operating rooms

Emergency and operating rooms must meet the most strict infection control
requirements and remain usable 24-7. You’ll want easy-to-clean materials that
promote cleanliness. Using smooth or low-texture flooring and proper
installation keeps dirt and fluids from slipping beneath the surface of your
floor.
Resin flooring is a perfect solution for these areas. When it comes to
benefits, a properly installed resin floor can provide your facility with a
durable, safe, and flexible walking surface. Not to mention, resin floors are
one of the most hygienic and chemical resistant flooring solutions on the
market. Much like cleaning a kitchen countertop, spills can be easily dealt with
by simply wiping them away as they will never settle or sink below the
surface. Resin flooring is also one of the most popular flooring options in
regards to aesthetics. With a wide range of design options and customizations,
industrial resin floors are capable of meeting virtually any design vision.
Cafeterias

The best cafeteria floors are stain-resistant, easy to clean and slip-

resistant. A patterned, textured floor can benefit your cafeteria by both
reducing and hiding scuffs and scratches. Evidence-based design dictates
hospital cafeterias should be comfortable environments that promote relaxation
and reduce stress.
Hospital flooring options that meet all of these requirements include
sheet vinyl, LVT and tile. They afford great design versatility with vibrant
colors and natural textures while providing lasting durability.
Nurse’s stations and treatment areas

Staff and patients spend most of their time in these environments, and
nurse’s stations never shut down. Flooring should promote stress reduction,
comfort and 24-7 access with materials that allow rapid installation and
minimize maintenance.
To suit these purposes, many hospitals have moved away from traditional
linoleum and vinyl composition tile (VCT) for nurse’s stations and functional
treatment areas. Instead, hospitals are turning to LVT, bio-based tile (BBT) and
sheet tile flooring made from low-VOC materials. We recommend flooring options
within these categories that have protective coatings, as they’ll resist
scratches and minimize the need for waxing, buffing and chemical cleaning. Free-
floating LVT and materials with adhesive backings will reduce installation times
and disruption to these critical care areas.
Patient rooms

In many hospitals, patient rooms are designed to emulate home-like

environments. As these rooms do not require aseptic flooring, you have more
options for materials, adhesives and installation methods. You have the
flexibility to specify warm, inviting flooring with natural textures.
Hospital flooring options that meet all of these requirements include
sheet vinyl, LVT and tile. They afford great design versatility with vibrant
colors and natural textures while providing lasting durability.
LVT, linoleum and sheet tile are great options that provide stone, wood,
tweed and other natural looks with more durability at a lower cost than natural
materials. They can all work with rapid installation systems. One new option to
consider is textile flooring, a material that provides the feel of carpet with
the durability and performance of tile.
Resources for selecting hospital flooring options

In recent years, a variety of evaluation and rating systems have emerged

to aid in the selection of materials that meet hospitals’ rigorous demands. Some
of the biggest include:
  LEED for Healthcare — A flooring rating system developed by the U.S. Green
Building Council (USGBC) that takes evidence-based design and indoor air
quality into account

 Green Guide for Healthcare (GGHC) — a best-practices guide for healthy and
sustainable design, construction and operations for healthcare facilities

 FloorScore — a rating system developed by the Resilient Floor Covering

Institute (RFCI) in conjunction with Scientific Certification Systems
(SCS) that evaluates flooring for VOC emission levels and compliance with
other rating systems

 ecoScorecard — a composite tool showing flooring products that comply with

the most popular rating systems

2. HYGIENIC MATERIALS
We invented hygienic wall cladding systems in 1982 – offering cleanliness,
design, quality of finish and aesthetics.
Hygiene is a major consideration when selecting products in a number of
industries. Environmental Health Practitioners prefer a seamless wall surface
within kitchens and appreciate the hygiene benefits of wall cladding. Infection
control within NHS Trusts will no longer allow ceramic tiles to be used, due to
risk of bacteria growth / infection. Numerous companies and county councils
specify wall cladding as standard.
It's our pioneering research and material development that has made our
systems so effective. But we’re not a company to rest on our own laurels. We
continue to research and innovate to find the best products and methods for
demanding environments.
Find out more about what makes our materials unique, and why they perform
so much better than other industry options.

3. WALLS

The walls in modern hospitals are not made of bricks, but of dry

partition walls, which are constructed of special compos- ite walls with
different material layers. A basic construction of steel studs is built up, on
which the different wall types are mounted.

4. WALL FINISHES
Interior finishes and construction account for a large portion (32%) of
the initial construction cost of healthcare facilities. While there is research
to show that design and construction materials can have a considerable impact on
the health of both the environments and the patients and staff in the
environment, this has not been investigated in great detail, especially from the
perspective of patient health. On the other hand, great advancements have been
made in the context of environmental health with LEED and the emphasis on Indoor
Environmental Quality. An additional concern, from the perspective of healthcare
designers, is understanding what facility owners and managers are looking for in
the context of interior finishes. This paper focuses on the perceptions of
facility managers, regarding wall finishes, and puts the findings in the context
of the existing literature on healthcare designers’ perceptions.

Objectives

1. To analyze to healthcare facility managers’ perceptions regarding the

materials used for interior wall finishes and the criteria used to select
them.
2. To examine differences in wall finish materials and the selection process
in three major hospital spaces: emergency, surgery, and in-patient units.
3. To compare these findings with healthcare designers’ perceptions on
similar issues, as currently documented in the literature.

Methods
A 22-question survey questionnaire was distributed via the web to 210
facility managers of metropolitan, for-profit hospitals in Texas, after
obtaining IRB approval. Respondents were asked to rank 10 interior wall finish
materials and 11 selection criteria for wall finishes. Prior to conducting the
survey, a pilot study was conducted with 2 of the hospitals to test the survey
instrument. No changes were deemed to be necessary after the pilot. Data from 48
complete questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and
nonparametric statistical analysis methods. Additionally, a review of the
literature was conducted to understand the current trends in healthcare
designers’ perceptions regarding the selection of wall finishes. Themes
identified by the literature review included improving psychological wellbeing
through colors and hues, aesthetics, sound absorption properties, issues
regarding durability, ease and cost of maintenance, toxicity, moisture control,
air quality, tolerance for bacterial and fungal treatments (infection control)
and client preference. A previous 2002 survey of healthcare designers, by
different authors, is referred to as a model for this study, and a basis for
comparison between facility manager and healthcare designer perceptions.
Design Implications
Vinyl type II is the primary choice of wall finishes in healthcare
facilities. Materials selected solely based on aesthetics may have a short life
if they are not appropriately cared for by those on facility operations side.
Understanding the priorities of facility managers is important. For facility
managers infection control, indoor environment quality (emission/VOC) and ease
of maintenance are the most important concerns.
Findings

1. Vinyl type II was the most preferred wall finish material in all three-
healthcare unit, followed by paint (water-based/latex). Rigid fiberglass
panels and paint (solvent/oil based) were ranked as the third & fourth
most preferred wall finish materials.
2. No significant differences were found in the ranking of materials across
the three types of healthcare spaces (emergency, surgery and inpatient
units).
3. Infection control was the top criterion for selecting wall finishes,
followed by gas emission/VOC and ease of maintenance, and indoor air
quality and sound resistance.
4. The top criterion for facility managers in making wall finish selections
is infection control, which differs from facility designers (based on
results of a previous survey by other authors), who reported aesthetics,
durability and ease of maintenance as top criteria.
5. For designer’s quality of the indoor environment refers to comfort and
healing properties (based on previous survey), whereas for facility
managers it relates more to non-toxicity.
 6. Initial cost is ranked as one of the least important criterions for both
groups, arguably since ease of maintenance is a bigger concern for
managers compared to initial cost which is covered by owners.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FLEXIBLE HOSPITAL ROOM

1. High Ceilings
A high ceiling is necessary to accommodate healthcare
technology/equipment and the space needed to do repairs. A minimum
floor-to-floor height of 16 feet will provide vertical clearance for
tall equipment, with at least 4 feet of above-ceiling space, the
majority of which will be taken up by HVAC equipment to achieve the air
flow levels required by sterile environments.

2. Big Open Floor Plan

long and wide floor space is necessary to accommodate equipment, beds,
staff, tables etc. most endeavors and anticipate future ones, but not so
large that the transportation time for patients and staff is
increased. Longer staff travel distances are inefficient and may
unnecessarily lengthen the duration of simple procedures and turnover
time.

3. Large Doors
Having large doors allows equipment, beds and tables to be rolled in and
out easily.

4. Plenty of Outlets and Lighting

Access to plenty of outlets and overhead lighting that can be adjusted
will ensure that the room can be easily configured in several different
ways.

5. Smooth Floors
Smooth hospital floors will allow quick changes and clean ups.