The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) welcomes Kumkum M. Dilwali, MS, LEED-AP, immediate-past Senior Director of the Green Guide for Health Care to its Advisory Board.

“We are gratified to have Ms. Dilwali’s experience, expertise and passion for healthier healing environments as part of our advisory resource,” said Allen Rathey, president of HFI. “We believe her past strategic involvement with the Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC) will help environmental services staff and other facility professionals understand how to make significant progress on the healthy and greener environments continuum.”

The Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC) is the health care sector’s first quantifiable sustainable design toolkit integrating enhanced environmental and health principles and practices into the planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance of facilities.  Kumkum was responsible for implementing all Green Guide-related projects, including the v2.2 Operations Pilot program, toolkit development, webinars, e-magazine articles, and more. The Green Guide Operations Pilot program was a one-year initiative that engaged about 70 diverse registered health care facilities in a peer-to-peer learning program through a systematic review of the Green Guide v2.2 Operations toolkit. The Pilot program was implemented using an online portal Ms. Dilwali designed to facilitate exchange of resources, case study development, and workgroup/expert sessions. The project findings were presented at the annual CleanMed 2011 conference and as part of a monthly webinar series.  Participating pilots attested to the success of this program and the value of information produced.

Ms. Dilwali brings over 20 years of professional experience in health, safety, and environmental compliance work at numerous healthcare facilities in the Greater Boston area, including the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cape Cod Hospital, and many smaller specialty facilities.  At BWH, currently LEED™-Silver certified, she was the LEED-certified professional on the Design and Construction team for the 350,000 ft2 Shapiro Cardiovascular center.  She also conducted an ICU evaluation study at BWH as part of the client’s commitment to patient safety and risk management. At Emerson Hospital, she focused on Joint Commission compliance as Safety Director, and founded their first Green Team to promote sustainable operations.  For a multitude of clients, she has presented to medical staff, health care executives, administration, and various hospital committees.

Her experience with non-health care facilities operations includes managing large building science and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) projects during her tenure at Environmental Health and Engineering, Inc. (www.eheinc.com).  Examples of her project leadership include (1) the University of Cincinnati Crosley Tower Radiation Safety evaluation and, (2) conversion of the New England Confectionery Company to Novartis Research Labs in Cambridge, MA. In the regulatory arena, she developed MSP-SCORE2, a materials selection process toolkit as part of USEPA’s Tools for New Schools, and led the full-scale testing of an IAQ product prototype on behalf of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  She also developed an AI-based evaluation and decision-making tool for screening IAQ parameters using technology developed by MIT scientists. While at Harvard University, she played a major role in establishing their first campus-wide sustainability program. For the prior decade, her technical and management consulting work at Arthur D. Little, Inc. focused on hazard assessment, consequence modeling, and risk management at chemical process plants. Ms. Dilwali is a chemical engineer (MIT, 1981) with environmental management expertise (Harvard School of Public Health, 1995). She is widely published, has presented at numerous conferences, and is an accomplished vocalist.

“The Healthy Facilities Institute is a unique information resource that takes a holistic approach to green facility improvement,” said Ms. Dilwali. “I am pleased to support this group as a means to help expand awareness of ways to enhance healthcare and other indoor environments.”