Sustainability And Flexibility Are Key Elements Of Uci Health Irvine

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 28, 2025, 11:40 PM

sustainability and flexibility are key elements of uci health irvine

IN THE NEWS: Situated about 1.5 miles from the UC Irvine campus, the new UCI — Health Irvine acute care hospital is scheduled to welcome patients in December 2025. Constructed with a focus on sustainability, the new hospital is also built for flexibility as technology advances and demand increases. Chad T. Lefteris, president and CEO of UCI Health, spoke with the Daily Pilot about how patients will benefit from more convenient access to care. “We believe the last thing a patient needs is to get on the 405 Freeway and travel north to L.A. or south to San Diego to receive care.”

Jess Langerud, principal project manager, spoke about how the UCI Health — Irvine hospital can adapt as technology improves. “The hospital will eventually be able to take DC power generated from renewable sources directly without the need to convert to AC, a far more efficient way to power the facility.” In fiscal year 2024, UCI Health continued its commitment to sustainability. Construction on the nation’s first all-electric medical center continued, completing the fully electric Joe C. Wen and Family Advanced Care Center. UCI Health continued its decarbonization efforts to meet the White House Climate Pledge to reduce emissions 50% by 2030.

In an effort to reduce anesthetic gas emissions, UCI Health transitioned away from piped nitrogen dioxide to administer through canisters in all operating rooms, resulting in a 26% decrease of purchased nitrous oxide from... The location completed a decarbonization study to determine a roadmap to reduce emissions by 90% by 2045. UCI Health increased its medical device reprocessing efforts, doubling cost savings to $1.6 million and successfully diverting over 10 tons of waste, underscoring a commitment to both financial performance and environmental stewardship. To increase the percentage of clean energy vehicles in its fleet, Parking & Transportation Services replaced two fossil fuel-powered patient shuttles with two electric shuttles and has two more on order for fiscal year... The Facilities Department continued to add bicycles to its 35 human-powered fleet and replaced all combustion landscaping equipment with electric equipment. Additionally, UCI Health added bicycle rack infrastructure to the main hospital campus and off-site clinics.

To continue building out its electric vehicle infrastructure, UCI Health added 17 dual port charging stations with a project to install 10 more charging stations planned for fiscal year 2025. UC Irvine Health saw a decrease in its EUI in the calendar year 2023. A recent trend report showed hospital executives are still holding strong to sustainability-related commitments regardless of federal changes. University of California, Irvine (UCI) Health is embodying that with its new all-electric hospital, set to open Dec. 10. UCI Health says the new hospital is the first all-electric acute care hospital of its size in the country, featuring renewable solar park structures, electric instead of gas for utilities like heating and hot...

And electricity isn’t the only sustainable feature at the 350,000-square-foot, 144-bed hospital, Brothman said. The hospital also has rainwater collection built into its landscaping that uses recycled water, bird-friendly glass, around 87% outdoor water reduction and about 38.5% indoor water reduction, and energy efficient equipment for lighting along... “It’s a significant cost to make this all-electric [hospital], but we do anticipate, in the long run, that we will have a cost savings, especially with the rising costs of natural gas,” Brothman said. The all-electric, zero emission UCI Health Irvine Hospital paves the way for lowering the impacts of future health facilities. When the $1.3-billion UCI Health - Irvine Hospital & Ambulatory Care Center makes its debut this December, the project will be one of a kind. The facility, on the campus of the University of California, Irvine (UCI), will be the first all-electric, zero-emission hospital in the nation.

In going all-electric, Brian Pratt, campus architect at UC Irvine, says the project team looked at the UC system’s goal of decarbonizing its 10 campuses and six academic health centers by 2045, and “we... And so our campus leadership basically said, ‘Let’s set the standard for the future of hospitals.’” That ambitious goal also created major construction challenges for the CO Architects + Hensel Phelps design-build team, which worked in close collaboration with UCI Health. In September, the team reached substantial completion on the project and officially handed the ceremonial master key to UCI Health leadership. The new facility will offer a 350,000-sq-ft specialty hospital, a 220,000-sq-ft ambulatory care center (ACC) and parking structure, but the star of the show is the massive, 31,848-sq-ft central utility plant that supplies power... The University of California, Irvine is committed to sustainable practices that minimize the campus's "ecological footprint" and conserve finite resources for future generations.

We strive to engage students, faculty, staff, the community, and other institutions in the pursuit of common solutions to address social, cultural, and economic needs while protecting the beauty and resources of the natural... Green efforts have targeted sustainable electricity, reduced medical gas use and electric grounds equipment. Most institutional and commercial organizations have undertaken projects and programs that aim to minimize their facilities’ impact on the environment. Many have gone further and revamped everything from purchasing to operations to improve their sustainability. Only a select few organizations, however, have made sustainability a centerpiece of their new and existing facilities from top to bottom. UCI Health is one of these facilities.

The clinical enterprise of the University of California Irvine has been recognized by Practice Greenhealth as a national leader in environmental sustainability, winning two Circle of Excellence awards for energy and climate. The awards honor the highest-performing hospitals nationwide in each area. Winners must achieve at least its 'Greenhealth Partner for Change' award status and demonstrate outstanding performance and metrics in a specific sustainability impact area. For Joe Brothman, UCI Health’s director of facilities and general services, such recognition comes partly as a result of several projects in which he and his department have been deeply involved. Brothman’s 200-person department is responsible for a range of facilities — some more than a century old — and the portfolio is growing. IN THE NEWS: Sustainability has not been the norm for hospitals, but the construction of UCI Health — Irvine could have ripple effects throughout the healthcare industry.

As the first medical campus in the United States to be completely powered by an all-electric, clean energy central utility plant, it seeks to set a new standard in sustainability and climate responsibility for... It is part of the organization’s commitment to sustainability and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. UCI Health director of facilities spoke to ABC7 about the campus. "This facility will be the way energy-intensive hospitals and buildings are built in the future. Hospitals are open 24/7. They're always on.

A lot of the airflow requirements in hospitals cause our heating, ventilation and cooling to be more demanding [of energy] than those in a common building.” Hospitals normally use natural gas to heat and refrigerate water and generate steam. At the new medical campus, sustainably produced electricity will produce hot and cold water and steam. UCI Health’s new hospital will help the system significantly reduce its carbon footprint to meet its sustainability goals. UCI Health – Irvine in California will achieve a remarkable sustainability milestone when it opens its all-electric hospital in 2025. The facility will be home to the Joe C.

Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and a 144-bed acute care hospital. The Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care will be an entirely new, five-story, 168,000-square-foot facility offering urgent care and a range of multidisciplinary specialty care for adults and children. It will also house and expand existing UCI Health services, such as the center for autism and neurodevelopmental disorders. The cancer center, which is also brand-new, will be a five-story, 225,000-square-foot tower with 36 private exam rooms and numerous infusion bays and operating rooms. It will also include clinical programs in oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and spine surgery, digestive health, and will double the space devoted to cancer care.

The new hospital will be seven stories and 350,000 square feet, with 10 operating suites and a 24-hour emergency department. Hospitals and operating rooms often run 24 hours a day and, thus, consume massive amounts of energy and resources. Addressing this was imperative for Joe Brothman, director of facilities and general services for UCI Health, and his team, as well as University of California leaders. On the corner of California and Bison Avenue in Irvine, California, lies an impressive 9-acre complex that ushers students, faculty, and visitors onto the University of California-Irvine (UCI) campus with cutting-edge facilities. The UCI Health Sciences Complex sets the tone for its university experience by greeting its tenants with state-of-the-art technology for transformative learning, integrative spaces that foster collaboration, and a mindful balance of urban design... The UCI Health Sciences Complex consists of the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences and the Sue & Bill Gross Nursing and Health Sciences Hall.

Between the two interconnected structures, they host 10 classrooms, 18 conference rooms, 87 clinical spaces, 9,500 GSF of simulation and skill center space, and a 200-seat auditorium connected via a bridge and a roof... Alvine acted as a core partner in the project’s design and construction. The project utilized a design-build delivery method, meaning our engineers and designers worked closely with the general contractor and other design entities from the initial technical proposal of the project to construction. Our firm provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and telecommunication design that delivered on the client’s vision for the space while staying compliant with some of the highest standards in sustainable and eco-conscious design. The UCI Health Sciences Complex has garnered national attention for its ingenuity. It is a LEED Platinum-certified building and won the Design-Build Institute of America’s 2023 Excellence in Healthcare Facilities award and a 2023 Los Angeles Green Building Council Innovation Award (Health and Wellbeing category).

Brian Stara, a mechanical systems designer at Alvine, has had extensive experience working on the UCI campus and has previous experience with other medical specialties, such as optometry and animal research laboratory structures. Brian’s expertise and experience working with California’s forward-thinking energy codes and UCI’s ambitious design standards played a pivotal role in providing high-performance HVAC and plumbing solutions that suited the unique needs of the client. The site contains multiple air handling units: one unit is located on the roof, which services the conditioning needs of the offices throughout the complex. The second unit, located on the first floor, was dedicated to servicing the pharmacy and exam areas. An additional air handling unit was necessary to handle the needs of the nursing wing. At UCI Health, caring for our patients and our community means caring for our environment.

We believe that sustainability, social equity and economic vitality are inextricably linked. As one of the largest academic health systems in California, we are answering the urgent call to build a healthcare model that is sustainable and resilient to the growing threat of climate change. By actively incorporating sustainable practices into our operations — reducing operating room emissions and medical waste, for example — we create a healthier, brighter future for Orange County and beyond. UCI Health recognizes the critical link between the health of our patients and the health of the environment. As a forever organization, we are committed to modeling environmental stewardship and promoting the health and resilience of the people and communities we serve, while safeguarding the environment for future generations. We are dedicated to advancing our vision for sustainability through discovery, innovation and excellence.

The University of California has established goals in 13 areas of sustainable practices that focus on responsible stewardship of resources, demonstrated leadership in sustainable business practices, and centering equity, climate and environmental justice in... These goals can be found in the UC Sustainable Practices Policy. Below, find the progress of UCI Health across several impact areas and in relation to the policy's goals. More information can be found in the UCI Health Sustainability Annual Report.

Sustainability And Flexibility Are Key Elements Of Uci Health Irvine

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