UCHealth Advances System-Wide Building Performance

UCHealth is setting new benchmarks for sustainability and energy efficiency across Colorado hospitals and medical office buildings. UCHealth, the largest nonprofit healthcare system in Colorado, is proactively addressing evolving energy regulations while reducing environmental impact, optimizing operations and strengthening long-term facility performance.

Building performance standards, or BPS, are becoming increasingly important nationwide. Fifteen jurisdictions have adopted BPS policies and more than 40 have mandatory benchmarking programs. Buildings account for a significant share of total energy use and emissions, and jurisdictions are relying on BPS to improve existing facilities as federal funding shifts. UCHealth’s approach positions its facilities ahead of regulatory requirements while strengthening operational and financial performance.

“UCHealth’s willingness to plan ahead and act early is what sets this work apart,” said Dan Addink, senior account executive at McKinstry. “By treating building performance as a long-term operational strategy, they are reducing energy use, lowering emissions and improving the patient care environment while strengthening systemwide resilience.”

System-Wide Strategy

McKinstry is supporting UCHealth through portfolio-wide retro-commissioning audits and a broader strategy to improve energy performance across more than 7.6 million square feet of healthcare space, including 13 hospitals and eight medical office buildings.

Through benchmarking and detailed facility assessments, UCHealth is evaluating how operational and capital improvements affect compliance with state and local energy standards. The work includes identifying system optimization measures, equipment upgrades and operational changes that can reduce energy use while maintaining the strict performance standards required in health care environments.

Through detailed facility assessments, the audits identified significant opportunities to improve system performance and reduce energy consumption across the portfolio. The recommended measures focus on optimizing existing building systems and implementing targeted upgrades to support long-term compliance with building performance standards. The improvements are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20,750 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to removing 4,840 cars from the road each year.

Grant Funding and Resilience Upgrades

As part of the larger effort, McKinstry is supporting UCHealth in securing a $2 million grant from the Colorado Energy Office to perform efficiency upgrades at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz campus. The project will implement the retro-commissioning recommendations and enhance the redundancy and resiliency of the operating rooms’ HVAC systems, helping ensure critical spaces maintain precise environmental conditions while reducing overall energy consumption.

The improvements not only support compliance with building performance standards but also enhance reliability in spaces where uninterrupted operations are essential. By modernizing infrastructure and optimizing system performance, UCHealth is improving patient and clinician experience and advancing its long-term sustainability goals.

A Model for Health Care Sustainability

By aligning compliance requirements with operational goals and strategic capital planning, UCHealth is demonstrating that energy efficiency investments can deliver meaningful reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening facility performance.

UCHealth’s focus on delivering measurable environmental outcomes provides a clear framework for how health care systems can navigate emerging building performance standards while achieving substantial emissions reductions, improved energy performance and long-term operational resilience.