Health care systems go electric for sustainability and resiliency

Hospitals are rethinking design and infrastructure with new all-electric facilities that align with sustainability goals and help improve resiliency.

For instance, at Prosser (Wash.) Memorial Hospital, which opened in early 2025, electric boilers, water heaters and air-cooled chillers were used in lieu of traditional gas-fired systems, while point-of-use electric steam generators manage all-electric loads. Backup power is provided by diesel generators to manage the hospital’s all-electric loads.

“The all-electric systems in the facility necessitated a strict code requirement to have a full 96-hour supply of fuel on-site,” explains Paul Kramer of the owner’s representative team, NV5.

Weather sealing in the roof and exterior walls limits heating and cooling loads, and electrical distribution is monitored to identify where electrical power may need to be redistributed.

The new hospital is 33% larger than the old hospital to accommodate expansion, and not just in terms of population. “The primary switchgear is designed to allow integration of future renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power,” according to the project team.

During the design process, Washington state set a goal for all public buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030.

“After reviewing the costs of utilizing fossil fuels in a conventional design versus an all-electric facility, the hospital board elected to make the investment to proceed with an all-electric design,” Kramer says.

Another hospital investing in all-electric systems is University of California Irvine’s UCI Health. Slated to open in late 2025, UCI Health’s new 144-bed acute care facility incorporates all-electric systems to deliver clean and efficient energy while reducing operational emissions.

“This building is different in that we don’t use any carbon fuels for operations,” says Joe Brothman, UCI Health’s director of general services. “All equipment in the central utility plant was selected for compatibility with a fully electric infrastructure.”

High-efficiency chillers and heat pumps work with a high-performance building envelope to reduce thermal loads and ensure reliable operations under varying climate conditions.

System performance will be monitored and adjusted in real time to ensure safe, reliable and efficient operation. The design aligns with University of California Health and state goals through on-site solar, recycled water use and grid-integrated renewables.

In preparation for extreme heat waves, patient surges or utility disruptions, redundant systems and adaptable infrastructure ensure uninterrupted care.

“This integrated approach to efficiency and redundancy enables the medical center to be environmentally responsible while remaining fully equipped to meet the community’s needs in critical situations,” Brothman says.

Also in California, Kaiser Permanente’s all-electric Railyards Medical Center is scheduled to open in 2029. The Sacramento-based 18-acre campus will include an eight-story, 662,000-square-foot hospital; a five-story medical office building; and a seven-story parking structure.

The facility will use electric steam generators, advanced heat pumps and thermal energy storage.

“When you replace conventional boilers with electricity, your loads increase dramatically,” Kaiser Permanente said in a statement. “We reduced peak electrical demand with thermal energy storage, heat recovery systems and electric steam generators that serve only where needed, eliminating the costlier centralized steam approach.”

The air-source heat recovery chillers will eliminate cooling towers, saving 8 million gallons of water annually, helping the project reach an energy use intensity of 125, the lowest across Kaiser’s hospital portfolio. When the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s power grid transitions to renewable energy, the hospital will operate with greater sustainability.

The all-electric approach, from air-source heat recovery chillers to thermal energy storage, reduces emissions by nearly 25%, according to the organization. It’s a design that not only meets California’s seismic and climate demands but also positions it to be sustainable for generations to come.