Metrics Today, Metrics Tomorrow (The Green Column‪)‬

Based on a sustainable building session, "Trends in Greening--Where Does Your Facility Fall in the Greening Spectrum?" presented at the HEALTHCARE DESIGN.10 Conference, November 13-16, 2010, in Las Vegas. Medical waste incinerators are a major source of mercury in the environment (1); newborn babies are born with more than 200 industrial chemicals in their bodies (2); the President's Cancer Panel reported this year that environmentally caused cancers are "grossly underestimated" and "needlessly devastate American lives" (3); and the World Health Organization reports that climate change will be the defining issue in the 21st century (4).