Health & Fitness
First US net-zero health facility is at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa
The Mercury Way Medical office at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa generates enough solar power to fulfill the building's energy requirements.
A Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa medical office is the first in California to achieve net-zero status, meaning it is producing enough renewable energy to meet its own annual energy consumption requirements.
It’s also the first net-zero healthcare building in the United States.
“Kaiser Permanente recognizes that improving the environment is one way to improve the overall health of the communities we serve,” said Catherine Gutfreund, MD, Family Medicine and physician in charge of the Mercury Way Medical Office. “ “We are proud of the way our medical office is helping to reduce the carbon footprint in our local community, and is serving as a model for how to design, build, and operate energy-efficient buildings in the future.”
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Kaiser Permanente is a leader in environmental stewardship, through a commitment to green building and solar energy across our footprint, having reached carbon neutrality in 2020. Kaiser Permanente has also committed to meet the Biden administration’s climate goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Constructed in 2018, the Santa Rosa medical office building at 2240 Mercury Way off Highway 12, has some substantial energy-efficient features. The building’s parking lot is covered by solar panels, which generate more than 600 kilowatts of power, or enough to run 3,000 average-size refrigerators.
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Instead of gas-fired boilers, heat pumps regulate the building’s temperature, as well as hot water. Outside insulation and special windows adjust to the sun, which reduces the need for air-conditioning inside. Individual controls help to regulate the temperature in each office.
The building uses a lot of natural sunlight and the landscaping is filled with water-saving, drought-tolerant native California plants. It also has electric car charging stations, and all non-medical waste is either composted or recycled.
The building is not only environmentally- sustainable, but provides Kaiser Permanente patients and members with a calm and soothing place to get their care. The building has 95 exam rooms, eight procedure rooms, a healthy-living and technology center, and an onsite café. The café offers nutritious food choices.
