Sustainable Design and Social Responsibility - Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering - page 194

The Teleosis vision of Green Health Care takes us beyond the Hippocratic
oath, calling upon health professionals to “do more good.” We believe
that health professionals—by focusing more on prevention, precaution,
education, and wellness—can significantly contribute to improving the
health of their patients, community, and the environment.
In Green Health Care, toxic-free buildings, literacy around local en-
vironmental health issues, and the use of safe, effective, precaution-based
medicine are all intrinsic parts of a new system of health care that is good
for people and the environment. *
The institute has identified a number of reasons for the green initiative:
1. Human health is compromised daily by ongoing environmental
degradation.
2. Health care must be part of the solution.
3. Green health care improves the health of people and the environment.
4. Green health care is medicine for our future. †
Within design practice and engineering research is a need for balance. This is
particularly challenging for biomedical engineering. Society demands that the
state-of-the-science be advanced as rapidly as possible and that no dangerous
side effects ensue. Most engineers have an appreciation for the value of pushing
the envelopes of research. They are also adept at optimizing among numerous
variables for the best design outcomes. However, emergent areas are associated
with some degree of peril. A recent query of top scientists ‡ addressed this
very issue. Its focus was on those biotechnologies needed to help developing
countries. Thus, the study included both the societal and technological areas
of greatest potential value (see Table B5.1). Each of these international experts
was asked the following questions about the specific technologies:
Impact . How much difference will the technology make in improving
health?
* Teleosis Institute, “Green health care,” http://www.teleosis.org/ghc.php; accessed August 10,
2007.
† Ibid.
‡ A. S. Daar, H. Thorsteinsdottir, D. K. Martin, A. C. Smith, S. Nast, and P. A. Singer, “Top ten
biotechnologies for improving health in developing countries,” Nature Genetics , 32, 229-232,
2002.