The seven-story, 350,000-square-foot, 144-bed UCI-Irvine facility was the nation’s first all-electric hospital and the sixth in the academic health system. | Photo Credit: UCI Health
By Lindsey Coulter
The opening of UCI Health-Irvine and the proposed replacement of El Camino Health’s Los Gatos hospital demonstrate that all-electric healthcare facilities are moving from an emerging concept into real-world projects.
But electrification is not simply a matter of replacing gas-fired equipment with electric alternatives. It can affect a hospital’s electrical infrastructure, mechanical systems, space planning, controls, emergency preparedness and day-to-day operations.
For project teams, that means energy strategy must be considered early — and integrated with the broader design of the facility.
Planning for Greater Electrical Demand
One of the most significant implications of electrification is the increased demand placed on a hospital’s electrical infrastructure.
Schneider Electric estimates that converting a hospital’s energy consumption to electricity can increase demand by two to 2.5 times the original design load, with even higher demand possible in extreme climates. That increase can require substantial upfront capital investment throughout the organization.
Space is another consideration. Schneider Electric estimates that all-electric infrastructure may require 20% to 30% more mechanical and electrical equipment space than traditional fossil-fuel-based systems supporting the same facility. That can create challenges for hospitals on constrained sites or in older buildings.
These requirements make early coordination among owners, architects, engineers and facilities teams particularly important. Electrical capacity and equipment space need to be addressed alongside clinical planning rather than treated as downstream engineering issues.
Resilience and Energy Storage
Greater reliance on electricity also raises questions about resilience.
Hospitals require continuous access to power, making utility reliability and emergency preparedness fundamental considerations in an all-electric design. Schneider Electric identifies microgrid design and redundancy planning as strategies that can help mitigate the risks associated with dependence on a single utility.
Microgrids can operate in either grid-connected or islanded modes and can integrate different types of generation and energy storage. On-site renewable generation and storage can reduce dependence on the grid, while demand-response programs and time-of-use utility rates can provide additional opportunities to manage energy costs.
Battery energy storage systems also introduce additional considerations. Schneider Electric notes that their use may require modifications to fire protection and life safety systems.
As a result, resilience planning for an all-electric hospital involves coordinating electrical distribution, generation, storage, controls and life safety systems rather than relying on a single backup strategy.
Digital Systems Become More Important
Electrification also increases the importance of digital infrastructure.
Schneider Electric identifies automated building controls, digital twins and energy modeling as tools that can help hospitals understand energy use and implement efficiency measures. The company describes data as a key component of electrification because it provides the information needed to control and optimize facility energy systems.
The opportunities extend throughout the hospital. Schneider Electric identifies occupancy sensors, patient-room controls, LED lighting, electric kitchens, electric sterilizing equipment and optimized electric-vehicle charging as potential components of a broader energy strategy.
That means an all-electric hospital can be viewed as an interconnected energy system rather than a collection of individual building systems. Controls and monitoring can help facilities teams understand how and when energy is being consumed and adjust operations accordingly.
Integrating Electrification Into Hospital Design
The proposed El Camino Health Los Gatos hospital demonstrates the opportunity to incorporate electrification into a broader capital project.
The proposed 340,000-square-foot campus would be built next to the existing hospital and would be the first all-electric hospital in Los Gatos. El Camino Health also plans for the project to meet current California seismic mandates, target LEED Gold certification and include a healing garden and water-saving landscaping.
The project is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, with completion and opening projected for 2032. The existing hospital, which opened in 1962, does not meet state-mandated seismic standards or fully support advanced and emerging medical technologies, according to El Camino Health.
The project illustrates why electrification can be particularly suited to new construction or major replacement projects: Infrastructure can be planned around the all-electric strategy rather than retrofitted into a building designed around older systems.
A New Approach to Hospital Operations
UCI Health-Irvine provides a completed example of that integrated approach.
The 144-bed hospital was designed without natural gas infrastructure and uses on-site solar generation and other sustainable sources, along with water recycling and energy-efficient building systems. It also incorporates electrification into its kitchen while supporting a full range of acute care services.
For healthcare facilities professionals, the significance of these projects extends beyond their sustainability goals. They demonstrate how energy infrastructure increasingly intersects with clinical operations, capital planning, technology and resilience.
Schneider Electric says successful electrification requires early engagement among hospital staff, energy technology providers, contractors, design firms and facilities teams. It also emphasizes the importance of training, performance monitoring and digital systems as organizations transition to new infrastructure.
The result is a model in which electrification becomes part of the hospital’s overall operating strategy rather than an isolated sustainability initiative.
Looking Ahead
The all-electric hospital remains an emerging model, but the completion of UCI Health-Irvine and the planning of El Camino Health’s Los Gatos replacement indicate that the approach is gaining traction in healthcare construction.
For future projects, the central question may be less whether hospitals can operate on electricity and more how their infrastructure can be designed to accommodate the associated electrical demand while maintaining resilience, controlling costs and supporting clinical operations.
As more health systems evaluate new construction and replacement projects, the lessons from early all-electric facilities could help shape how hospitals approach energy, infrastructure and operations for decades to come.