Rady Children's Hospital Attains LEED Gold for Acute Care Pavilion

Rady Children’s Hospital and Health Center was awarded LEED Gold sustainable design certification in February of 2011 for the new $260 million Acute Care Pavilion. Located in Kearney Mesa, Calif., the 279,000-sf facility was designed by Stantec and built by McCarthy. The facility provides 72 private patient rooms, 84 medical-surgical beds, 16 operating rooms, a neonatal ICU, a cancer center, and several healing gardens. The project is the first pediatric hospital in California to be LEED certified and also meets state seismic regulations. The building achieved 23 percent below Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency by utilizing the LEED Energy Cost Budget methodology. This was achieved by incorporating occupancy sensors in operating rooms to reduce the ventilation rate by 60 percent when unoccupied, yielding a 45 percent annual energy savings. Variable frequency drives are built into the air handling unit motors to adjust the fan speeds. Carbon dioxide monitoring for high occupancy areas help reduce ventilation rates, based on the number of occupants. A supply air temperature reset strategy further helps save energy by adjusting air temperatures based on load. A 24,000-sf cogeneration plant provides free heating and high temperature water, and contains two 700-ton natural gas-fired absorption chillers. Variable frequency drives are also built into cooling tower fans and hot water pumps. The project team utilized recycled and locally obtained steel, concrete and other building materials; low VOC-emitting paints, glues, carpet, and wood; and water-efficient landscaping. Abundant daylighting is used, even in operating rooms. A reflective concrete "cool roof" system helps minimize heat gain and control rainwater run-off, while painted steel screens conceal rooftop mechanical systems. KPFF of San Francisco served as the structural engineer; RBF of San Diego was the civil engineer; Randall Lamb of San Diego was the electrical engineer, and Shadpour Consulting Engineers, also of San Diego, was the mechanical engineer. RHAA of Mill Valley was the landscape architect.