The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital is the first American Green Zone Alliance-certified Green Zone in the country.
This means that UAB Facilities Division will use what they say are “cleaner, quieter tools” for maintenance of UAB Hospital’s outdoor spaces instead of noisier gas-powered handheld tools. This will limit exhaust and carbon dioxide.
“The consideration of using battery-powered electric handheld tools had to meet three very critical criteria for me to consider their use: The equipment had to be able to maintain our production needs, it had to continue to provide quality results, and it had to be cost-effective,” said David Lovell, manager of the Grounds Department. “Battery-powered handheld equipment hit the mark on all three criteria. My staff is excited about the implementation of this equipment.”
The project, UAB says, is another step toward embedding health into all aspects of campus culture, as dictated by 2015’s Okanagan Charter. UAB was the first university in the U.S. to adopt the Okanagan Charter and become an internationally recognized health-promoting university.