Commercial Construction & Renovation

JUL-AUG 2016

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116 COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — JULY : AUGUST 2016 The R&D; Tax Credit aspects of hospital design and construction By Charles R. Goulding & Lauren Chin Eligible costs include employee wages, cost of supplies, cost of testing, contract research expenses, and costs associated with developing a patent. On Dec. 18, 2015, President Obama signed the bill making the R&D; Tax Credit permanent. Beginning in 2016, the R&D; credit can be used to offset Alternative Minimum tax and startup businesses can utilize the credit against $250,000 per year in payroll taxes. Flexibility & Expansion Flexibility is a significant aspect of a hospital design due to the constant changes and re- quirements that exist in the healthcare industry. There always are changes in the developments of diseases, introduction of new treatments and implementation of new technology. A building must be able to support all of these evolving aspects in order for a hospital to properly function. To provide the flexibility of a building, designs should contain mechanical and electrical systems that can be modified. Plans should include generic room sizes and the implementation of modular concepts for laying out rooms and spaces. In order to account for these changes, the core design of a hospital should be easy to adapt to any required additions or renovations in the future. To create a flexible structure for a hospital, rooms should be designated as soft and hard spaces and laid out accordingly. Soft spaces, such as an office, should be built next to a hard space which can be an operating room. The designated soft spaces should be easy to renovate in the future in order to ex- pand certain hospital departments that need more room. Another form of creating flexible buildings is to construct a standardized room that can be used for various activities. This uniform room easily can be changed to sup- port a different functional use when required. Infection-Free Environment It is imperative that a hospital is designed to provide a sanitized and clean environment. Certain spaces, furniture, lighting fixtures and hospital equipment should be chosen and positioned in a way that prevents any dirt or germs from sticking onto surfaces. Special materials, such as antimicrobial surfaces, should be utilized to provide a sterile environment. It also is important for H ospitals are buildings that are seen as a significant part of the community, because they provide a place of safety and care for individuals in need. Over time, their design and construction has changed to create a safer, more relevant and more efficient building for patients. Healing havens New types of technology and building standards have affected how hospitals are being built. Over time, building codes are updated to ensure that structures are able to support our constantly changing environment. Developing new hos- pital designs and utilizing modern technology provides designers with the opportunity to create improved hospitals and meet the challenging needs of current and future patients. Enacted in 1981, the Federal Research and Development (R&D;) Tax Credit allows a credit of up to 13 percent of eligible spending for new and improved products and processes. Qualified research must meet the following four criteria: 1. New or improved products, processes or software 2. Technological in nature 3. Elimination of uncertainty 4. Process of experimentation

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