Tips from Our President Bob Shaffer on a Green Dental Practice

Chanhassen Family Dental

Contemporary Product Services (CPS) Magazine, recently featured Bob Shaffer on his many years of experience in designing "green" projects. He has collected a wealth of information on creating sustainable design specifically for dental offices. He shared some tips with CPS Magazine:

• Use digital X-rays. Switching to digital x-rays uses less film and reduces waste from chemicals and lead-lined film packets.
• Go paperless. Switching to digital patient files and billing increases staff efficiency and reducing material costs of folders, labels and preprinted forms. Shaffer recommends electronic forms where patients can enter information.
• Choose new equipment wisely. When you are in the market for new appliances, monitors or computers, look for the ones with the energy star label. Some energy-efficient devices pay for themselves in just a few years with their reduction in energy use.
• Use healthy cleaning products and paints. Chemical cleaning products can release VOCs into your clinic environment. Switching to eco-friendly cleaning products reduces or eliminates this source of VOCs and possibly reduces cost.

That's just for the dental practice—read Bob's article for tips on designing a new clinic building and greening the clinic space.