Death Becomes Her: Dr G. to Get Green Morgue

Dr%20G.jpg TreeHugger is no stranger to posts on greener ways to deal with death. We’ve looked at the recent decision by a UK crematorium to delay burning bodies in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions, we’ve covered more environmentally friendly funeral pyres in India, and we’ve written about efforts to set up a national standard for green burial. Heck, we’ve even covered the BBC’s Ethical Man’s ruminations on composting his own corpse, so it’s safe to say we’re not squeamish. Now we hear from the Orlando Sentinel that Dr Jan Garavaglia, star of Discovery Health’s Dr G: Medical Examiner show, is to get a brand new morgue, and it’s going to be green:

“The current building on Lucerne Terrace south of downtown Orlando is outdated because designers failed to anticipate the area's rapid growth, Garavaglia said. "We won't do that again," Garavaglia said of the new facility planned near Michigan Street and Bumby Avenue.County officials said plans for the larger building have nothing to do with the television show. Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty said the facility would seek certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The organization's LEED -- or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design -- is the nation's most recognized rating system for "green" construction.”

Details are still sketchy as to what green features the new facilities will encorporate, but we are pleased to see another sign of sustainable building going mainstream. ::The Orlando Sentinel::

[Disclosure: Discovery Health is, obviously, owned by the Discovery Network, who are of course also the new owners of TreeHugger. This news did, however, come to us through the Orlando Sentinel.]

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