Healing Through Resilience: A Case Study on Climate-Ready Healthcare Design
Friday, October 23, 2026 10:15 AM to 11:15 AM · 1 hr. (US/Eastern)
Health & Human Experience
Information
As climate hazards intensify across coastal regions, healthcare facilities face mounting pressure to remain fully operational through prolonged power outages, extreme heat, hurricanes, storm surge, and shifting groundwater conditions. In response to these growing risks, the first hospital in Sunrise, Florida, stands as a pioneering model of resilience driven, sustainability centered healthcare design for South Florida and beyond.
This session offers an inside look at the hospital’s comprehensive resiliency strategy, presented through the integrated perspectives of an architect, civil engineer, landscape architect, and the owner (Baptist Health South Florida). From project inception, our team collaborated closely to ensure the facility could operate safely and continuously in a climate threatened environment. Targeting LEED v4 BD+C Gold and WELL v2 Platinum certifications, the hospital demonstrates how sustainability, wellness, and high-performance operations can be seamlessly embedded into a complex healthcare campus.
Guided by a “do no harm” philosophy, our team addressed climate and site-specific risks by prioritizing patient safety, staff wellbeing, operational continuity, and reduced environmental and community impacts. We will share strategies including elevating critical infrastructure, designing a resilient central utility plant, leveraging site features for flood protection, preserving emergency access, reducing heat exposure, and creating one of the nation’s first all-electric inpatient hospitals with an EUI below 100.
Beyond the technical solutions, the session highlights the human dimension of resilience: how design choices support clinicians during crisis, how patients experience safety amid uncertainty, and how stakeholder workshops informed critical decisions. Attendees will gain a holistic understanding of how a sustainability-aligned, resilience-first healthcare model can minimize environmental impact while maximizing functionality. This integrated approach offers a replicable path forward for healthcare institutions in climate vulnerable regions across the globe.
This session offers an inside look at the hospital’s comprehensive resiliency strategy, presented through the integrated perspectives of an architect, civil engineer, landscape architect, and the owner (Baptist Health South Florida). From project inception, our team collaborated closely to ensure the facility could operate safely and continuously in a climate threatened environment. Targeting LEED v4 BD+C Gold and WELL v2 Platinum certifications, the hospital demonstrates how sustainability, wellness, and high-performance operations can be seamlessly embedded into a complex healthcare campus.
Guided by a “do no harm” philosophy, our team addressed climate and site-specific risks by prioritizing patient safety, staff wellbeing, operational continuity, and reduced environmental and community impacts. We will share strategies including elevating critical infrastructure, designing a resilient central utility plant, leveraging site features for flood protection, preserving emergency access, reducing heat exposure, and creating one of the nation’s first all-electric inpatient hospitals with an EUI below 100.
Beyond the technical solutions, the session highlights the human dimension of resilience: how design choices support clinicians during crisis, how patients experience safety amid uncertainty, and how stakeholder workshops informed critical decisions. Attendees will gain a holistic understanding of how a sustainability-aligned, resilience-first healthcare model can minimize environmental impact while maximizing functionality. This integrated approach offers a replicable path forward for healthcare institutions in climate vulnerable regions across the globe.
Learning Level
Intermediate
Program
Track Session
Track
Health & Human Experience
Learning Objective #1
Identify climate risks facing healthcare facilities and evaluate how these hazards inform resilient, sustainability driven hospital design strategies.
Learning Objective #2
Explain how integrated multi-disciplinary approaches enhance operational continuity, occupant well being, and environmental performance.
Learning Objective #3
Assess key resilience measures such as energy efficiency, power redundancy, flood mitigation, and nature-based landscape systems that support long-term functionality during extreme weather events
Learning Objective #4
Understand how to communicate the value proposition of investing in resilient, sustainable healthcare infrastructure and its impact on community health and climate preparedness to owners and the design team.
