Breaking New Ground With an All-Electric Hospital

As the first all-electric medical center in the U.S., the new University of California Irvine (UCI) Medical Center is a landmark achievement in healthcare and sustainability that raises a bold new standard for future healthcare facilities nationwide. 

Open as of December 2025, the campus features a five-story hospital, a four-story ambulatory care center and a multi-level parking structure, all of which are supported by a state-of-the-art, all-electric central utility plant (CUP). 

The project embodies the University of California system’s commitment to carbon neutrality.

Our team designed a staging sequence for the HRCs, HPs and water-cooled chillers that optimized energy efficiency while also maintaining critical supply temperature setpoints for the chilled and heating hot water systems.

Unlike traditional centralized healthcare campuses with separate chilled water and heating hot water systems, an all-electric central plant is designed to provide heating and cooling simultaneously sharing the same equipment. This approach necessitated development and validation of some first-in-the-industry control sequences — a WSP-led design effort that involved multiple stakeholders from end users, operations and maintenance staff, a variety of contractors and commissioning agents.

Beyond developing control sequences, our technology team assisted UCI in developing a framework to allow integration of more than 30 building control and healthcare technology systems on the campus. We guided stakeholders through multiple integration workshops to understand and implement must-have system integrations that improved efficiency for operations and maintenance staff and healthcare providers, which ultimately improve patient outcomes. This approach provides a future-ready capability to add system integration as opportunity and needs arise.

Our lighting and built ecology team prioritized occupant wellness in the facility’s design, accomplished through daylight and glare studies that informed the project’s façade and lighting strategies. Automated blinds and light shelves were integrated to balance both energy performance and patient comfort.

We also provided market innovation and strategic advisory services, which helped guide UCI Health through the complexities of electrification, regulatory compliance and sustainability certification. The project is currently on track for LEED Platinum certification under the v4 Healthcare rating system.

Unsurprisingly, progress towards this all-electric hospital faced multiple challenges. For starters, eliminating the traditional, central steam plant and instead using electric, point-of-use steam equipment was unprecedented in healthcare. Our experts adjusted the electrical system design to accommodate the increased electrical loads. Their work eliminated the maintenance-intensive steam system, which helped reduce long-term operational costs.

Teams also navigated the challenges of design during the COVID-19 pandemic and incorporated pandemic-ready design into the facility. All patient rooms are designed to be converted to intensive care units in the event of a pandemic.

We integrated lighting, HVAC, security and patient care systems to further enhance the center’s overall operational efficiency and patient experience.

UCI’s all-electric hospital delivers lasting benefits, such as:

• Carbon savings: The project with its 1.1MW of photovoltaics, as well as the UC System’s 100% renewable grid energy, is expected to reduce operational carbon by 35 percent, performing 35 percent below the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 90.1 baseline, a standard developed by ASHRAE that outlines the necessary energy efficiency requirements for buildings.
• Operational efficiency: Eliminating natural gas systems from the campus resulted in significant operational cost savings, while the hospital’s operational carbon footprint is procured via zero-carbon clean electricity.
• Industry leadership: The project has been showcased at international conferences, such as Greenbuild, and stands as a model for future UC Health System campuses across California.
• Patient-centered design: Advanced integration of building systems supports a healing environment, with technology-enhanced safety, comfort and operational flexibility.

UCI Medical Center stands as a beacon of innovation, sustainability and resilience in healthcare and will help drive the industry toward a carbon-free, patient-centered future. We have applied the lessons learned from this project to future work at hospitals across the U.S.