THE MENTAL HEALTH CENTER OF DENVER’S RECOVERY CENTER
EARNS LEED® PLATINUM CERTIFICATION
DENVER (March 22, 2013) – In July 2012, the Mental Health Center of Denver opened
its new Recovery Center at 4455 E. 12th Ave. in Denver. Recently, the Recovery Center
was awarded the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®)
Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), helping the
Mental Health Center of Denver fulfill its vision of being the greenest mental health
facility in the country.
“We believe that the Recovery Center is the only mental health facility in Colorado and
the second in the nation to receive the Platinum designation,” said Jim Fasano, facilities
services director of the Mental Health Center of Denver. “We wanted a sustainably
designed building that was filled with natural light and beautiful finishes, somewhere that
people felt good about walking into and that reinforced our belief that people can and do
recover from mental illness. Knowing that the Recovery Center accomplishes this while
upholding the highest standards of environmental sustainability is especially rewarding.”
LEED® certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building or
community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance
in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water
savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. LEEDcertified buildings are designed to: lower operating costs and increase asset value; reduce
waste sent to landfills; conserve energy and water; be healthier and safer for occupants
and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
The Recovery Center is the first major project to commence the re-use and revitalization
of the former CU Health Sciences District. The relocation of the Health Sciences Center
to the Fitzsimons campus in Aurora had left behind a cluster of vacant and outdated
buildings. The Recovery Center is the very first investment in restoring this
neighborhood to a new vitality.
In December 2011 the Mental Health Center of Denver purchased the four-story 92,000
gross square-foot property, which was built in 1952 to house the Mount Airy Psychiatric
Center and in 1989 became the North Pavilion outpatient mental health treatment and
research facility run by the University of Colorado. Vital as its services had been, this
psychiatric facility was long overdue for thorough rehabilitation even before the Health
Sciences Center decamped. Total costs for acquisition of the property, renovation and
furnishing totaled $15.5 million.
The Recovery Center was awarded with the Platinum certification for a number of
reasons, including the deliberate way that the North Pavilion was deconstructed with a
strict commitment to salvaging building materials. An impressive 72 percent of
construction waste was recycled. Other key factors in securing the Platinum certification
include:
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rooftop 40kW Solar PV array generating 10%-14% of the building’s energy needs
– enough to power 5 single family homes
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renovation of all major building systems and increased energy efficiency will
reduce energy consumption by approximately 1,000,000 kWh per year – enough
to power 94 single family homes
Landscaping that incorporates low water and native plants combined with
efficient irrigation systems will produce outdoor water savings of over 50 percent;
efficient water systems will lower indoor consumption by at least 37 percent
annually
low VOC-emitting finishes and added ventilation will provide superior indoor air,
which in a typical building can be eight times more polluted than outside air
The Recovery Center construction team consisted of City Projects, Inc. serving as
owner’s representative, along with Davis Partnership as the architect and Taylor Kohrs as
the general contractor. Group14 Engineering served as environmental consultants.
According to Carl Clark, M.D., CEO of the Mental Health Center of Denver, “In 2007,
we challenged ourselves to become the greenest mental health center in the country
because we believe a focus on being green at the office helps us be better stewards of our
limited resources and sets an example for our community. The Platinum certification is a
testament to our dedication to this vision and we are thrilled to be recognized.”
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