The most energy efficient, fully digital acute care hospital in North America, Humber River Hospital’s built environment is revolutionizing sustainable healthcare design.

Pushing the boundaries of innovation with one of the world’s largest dynamic glass installations, Humber is a SMART building that supports a connected health care strategy with ICAT (Information, Communications and Automation Technology) infrastructure and first-in-Canada use of service robots: Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs).  Unprecedented energy reduction and advanced sustainability achievements through offsite modular manufacturing and LEED Gold certification add to the impressive achievements of this project.

The facility contains a total of 45 departments within a 14-story, 1.8-million-square-foot hospital. The health care development provides physicians with an ideal environment to deliver the highest level of patient care. 

Incorporating digital integration and interoperability to reduce operating costs and carbon footprint, the 1.8M square foot facility was design-built by PCL in just 43.5 months, boasting an unprecedented annual EUI target of 348 ekWh/m2, which is 47 per cent lower than the Energy Star Portfolio Manager Canada target for hospitals, with 100 per cent fresh air.

The build initially targeted LEED Silver but achieved LEED Gold through a myriad of innovative strategies that also garnered the CaGBC’s 2018 Excellence in Green Building: New Construction Institutional Award.

A winter wonderland can be wonderful, but not on an active construction site. To mitigate harsh weather schedule risks, we took parts of the build off-site engaging innovative modular construction techniques to rapidly design, manufacture, deliver and install 360 patient washroom mods and 14 fully prefabricated telecommunications/data rooms. 

• The hospital features one of the world’s largest installations of electrochromic windows (26,000 square feet)
• Annual EUI of 348 ekWh/m2, 47% lower than the Energy Star Portfolio Manager Canada target for hospitals
• 100% fresh air circulation
• Targeted LEED Silver but achieved LEED Gold
• Rainwater harvesting system is expected to save 450,000 litres of potable water each year
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures achieved a 33% reduction in potable water use compared to the LEED baseline