We are excited to announce PAYETTE will be presenting at the fourth annual MedED Facilities Conference next month in Boston on April 4-5. The conference will feature dynamic educational programs with real-world, solutions-based case studies and management discussions relating to the planning, designing, construction and facility management of medical and educational building types.
This year we will be presenting on three different topics – our experiences using 3D and digital fabrication tools in our design process, design specification tools, resilient design and sustainable design strategies.
The Case for Modular Design in Small Healthcare Renovation Projects
3D and digital fabrication tools have been used for decades in large, new building construction. In a recent healthcare renovation project, a design team executed a process that leveraged these big building tools to optimize the design, timeline and delivery of a small healthcare space. This discussion will outline how a modular approach enabled a patient recovery area to stay operational Monday – Friday during construction while providing seamless continuity in patient care.
Details:
Wednesday, April 5th | 8:00AM – 9:30AM
Speakers:
Susan Blomquist, PAYETTE
Parke MacDowell, PAYETTE
Marc Fishman, Walsh Brothers, Inc.
Ahin Handa, Massachusetts General Hospital
From Research to Specifications to Healthier Environments
Scientific studies are providing ever-increasing evidence demonstrating the effects indoor environmental quality can have on occupant health. We ask: How can results of scientific research on materials be most effectively translated into building design and requirements for construction? We will explore a process that uses facility standards and construction specifications as tools for translating scientific data into documents that can be enforced during building construction and share a case study in higher education.
Details:
Wednesday, April 5th | 10:00AM – 11:00AM
Speakers:
Greta Eckhardt, AIA, CSI, CCS, PAYETTE
Robin Dodson, Sc.D., Silent Spring Institute
Heather Henriksen, Harvard University
Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED AP, KALIN ASSOCIATES, INC.
Resilient Design for Healthcare Facilities: Weathering the Storm & Beyond
Resiliency is the ability to recover from or adapt to misfortune or change. We expect our healthcare facilities to house and treat vulnerable populations in times of extreme weather events and their aftermath. The panel will cover how healthcare building owners/ operators can assess vulnerabilities to extreme weather events and other risk factors and how to begin to address them. They will cover various strategies to improve the performance of buildings and foster passive survivability.
Details:
Wednesday, April 5th | 2:00PM – 3:30PM
Speakers:
Alejandra Menchaca, PAYETTE
David Burson, Partners HealthCare Real Estate and Facilities
Deborah Rivers, HDR
Wagdy Anis, Anis Building Enclosure Consulting
Overcoming the Performance Challenges of Glass Facades
Glazed facades are intended to provide transparency, daylight and connection but drive up energy consumption, increase opportunities for occupant discomfort and challenge budgets. This presentation will use a real project to illustrate the collaborative approach that pulled architects, consultants, and engineers out of their silos to explore strategies that benefit both the design intent and performance of glazed facades. Participants will be guided through how the key metrics used to measure performance were defined, the integrated process used to analyze the facade, and the evolution of the design reasoning behind the final outcome. The session will cover how an array of simulations performed by different team members were integrated to inform how the glass type and, space conditioning strategies, including natural ventilation, chilled beams and shading system, were selected and optimized. The session will conclude with each of the presenters-architect, building scientist, mechanical engineer, and sustainable design consultant-sharing their perspective on key take-aways they intend to use on future projects with different team members.
Details:
Wednesday, April 5th | 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Speakers:
Jeffrey Abramson, PAYETTE
Alejandra Menchaca, PAYETTE
Bungane Mehlomakulu, Integral Group
Eric Fontaine, vanZelm Engineers
We are honored to share PAYETTE has received two 2026 Green Good Design Awards from The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies—Land’s Sake Farm and The Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard.
“Green GOOD DESIGN identifies and emphasizes the world’s most important examples of sustainable design and works to develop a public awareness program that informs the general public about which global companies are doing the best job in ecological and sustainable design for our world. Architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning projects, as well as product, packaging, and graphic design projects from over 30 nations were honored with the 2026 Green GOOD DESIGN Award.”
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