The exterior of the Pavilion at ground level is surrounded by green garden spaces and outdoor seating areas.
Penn Medicine’s new Pavilion earns coveted LEED certification for sustainability
Penn Medicine’s newest hospital building was designed with great care for years to be a leader in the health care industry. And shortly before its opening, the Pavilion – as the extension of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is known – also became a LEED-er. That is, the building has broken new ground for sustainable health care construction and design with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Healthcare Gold Certification.
Incorporating sustainability efforts since the beginning of its development, the 17-story facility is the largest certified project in the world to achieve Gold certification or higher in LEED v4 Healthcare (the latest LEED Healthcare rating system version). At 1.5 million square feet, the Pavilion is also the first hospital in the United States of more than 1 million square feet to achieve certification in LEED Healthcare.
LEED, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. To become LEED certified, a building must earn a threshold of points across multiple measurements for green building excellence, from sustainable site development to energy efficiency and water savings.
“Our workforce is deeply committed to climate stewardship,” said Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, “and in the Pavilion, they can be proud to be part of a new era in conservation that puts medicine on the map as a force for improving the health of our planet.”
Conservation initiatives during the Pavilion project included recycling materials that were collected after the demolition of Penn Tower, which formerly stood on the new hospital’s site, including 291 tons of scrap steel and 17,000 tons of concrete. In addition, during the Pavilion’s construction, about 25 percent of materials were prefabricated and manufactured off-site, including more than 570 mechanical/electrical/plumbing racks and all 504 patient-room bathrooms.
Overall, the energy efficiency efforts in the Pavilion are anticipated to save more than 14 percent in annual energy costs compared to merely a code-compliant hospital. The building itself also uses 100 percent outside air through its HVAC system, using energy recovery wheels to capture and repurpose waste energy.
Along with saving energy, the facility was constructed to use significantly less water through low-flow fixtures. In addition, more than 20 percent of the water required for HVAC equipment comes from rainwater, condensate, and foundation dewatering.
Perhaps the most visible sign of the Pavilion’s green status is an acre of landscaping – including ground-level greenery that helps “bring the outside in” to patients and employees through abundant windows – and green roofs. Landscaped areas will feature native and hardy species that require minimal watering and maintenance.
The facility’s eco-friendly qualities extend to enabling green transit options for the thousands who work at and visit the Pavilion each day. In the 690-space underground parking garage, 2 percent of parking spaces have access to electric vehicle recharging stations, and to promote cycling and walking, 352 new bicycle parking spots have been installed at various locations surrounding the Pavilion. A new pedestrian pathway connecting the facility to SEPTA’s Penn Medicine Station makes the entire HUP campus easily accessible for staff and visitors who use public transportation.
Read more about the Pavilion’s LEED certification here and more stories about the Pavilion.