Integrating sustainability into healthcare construction means more than green building.

By

Anna Toon

and Tara Cohn

Last Updated Mar 24, 2026

By

Anna Toon

and Tara Cohn

If you had to define a sustainable healthcare system, how would you do it? What does sustainability mean in practice?

While the obvious answer involves green building materials and energy-efficient technologies, the concept of sustainability can (and should) sometimes be decoupled from environmental considerations.

When that happens, sustainability becomes about creating long-lasting operational stability through resilient infrastructure, adaptable design, and other strategies. 

"It’s about environmental sustainability, of course, but it’s also about economic sustainability, which means supporting long-term growth without negatively impacting social or environmental outcomes. And it’s about social sustainability, which is centered on well-being, equity, and access to resources," explains Tara Cohn, Director at Wipfli LLP, who specializes in healthcare data analytics services.

This line of thinking applies to more than just healthcare systems’ flagship hospitals. As much time, money and effort should also go toward support sites, such as provider offices and satellite locations.

With that framework in mind, a truly sustainable healthcare system can:

• Withstand disruption
• Evolve with changing demands
• Optimize labor, financial, and environmental resources

Early decisions shape decades.

From site selection to tech stack decisions, every decision made during hospital construction and renovation carries lasting and far-reaching implications. Each creates a ripple effect on clinical flow, patient safety, operating costs, and sustainability. 

For example, early choices can significantly impact:

• The operations team’s ability to manage costs, maintain efficient operations and adapt to changing demands 
• Clinicians’ ability to deliver safe, efficient care and respond to emergencies
• The facilities department’s capacity to maintain equipment and address repairs
• The finance team’s ability to forecast and manage investments — and guarantee long-term financial sustainability
• The HR department’s effectiveness in recruiting, training, and retaining staff 
• The IT department’s ability to implement and maintain new technology

In other words, the decisions made in the initial phases of a project can set you up for decades of success, stability, and growth — or they can lead to years of rework, increased costs, and unnecessary added risk.

The difference-maker is whether you embed sustainability into the decision-making process for all stakeholders from day one. Because these projects can be once-in-a-lifetime occurrences, many project team members may be tackling things they haven’t done before, such as thinking holistically about sustainability.

Helping teams look at sustainability in the right light requires different approaches depending on collective experiences and goals. For instance, you might research best practices or collaborate with colleagues who have managed similar projects.

You might also consult industry networks and associations for fresh perspectives. Whatever your approach, “don’t be afraid to call an expert and really lean on that group for decision-making support if you want to build something truly sustainable in every sense of the word,” emphasizes Tara.

Multiple voices improve decision-making.

When it comes to project planning and prioritization, perspective changes everything, as Tara points out. To build a sustainable facility, you need as many perspectives as possible — and as early as possible. Diverse expertise and multiple vantage points can have a massive impact on planning and making sure critical details aren’t missed.

For instance, nurses may be the only ones who can identify that a proposed layout will unnecessarily increase steps and delay patient response times. By catching this early, the layout can be redesigned to reduce staff fatigue, lower the possibility of delays in patient care and minimize wasted labor hours.

"Sustainability should never come down to one person. You need to bring together your leaders in strategy, construction, operations, clinical, quality, finance, and IT, says Tara. "Collaboration is incredibly important to keep projects on budget and within scope."

By bringing everyone together, you can be more confident about which projects to prioritize (and why), and you can make sure decisions account for what could happen today, tomorrow, and beyond so your facility performs as well in year 30 as it does in year one.

Data creates value over time.

Once those early decisions are made and the project is underway, it’s time to implement systems to collect data and monitor the project as it progresses (and after completion). This ensures that sustainable operations have accountability and practice continuous improvement.

“Projects succeed when they treat data as an asset, just like they do power, water, and the facility itself," Tara says. "The decisions being made need to be informed by data. Data also helps drive next steps to mitigate risk and ensure maximum value throughout.”

Consider a licensure change affecting how many beds a healthcare facility can operate. This process involves many steps and costs, and organizations that fail to consider the right data can find themselves with massive financial burdens and added risks.

Dozens of licensed beds could sit empty, all while the hospital incurs maintenance and staffing costs. If regulators question the need for this added capacity, it could result in an audit or future licensing complications.

“But when data is treated as an asset, you see the benefit to the organization,” Tara points out. “It can continue to scale over time while minimizing cost and undue burden.”

Technology powers progress.

What brings all these elements — the right mindset, the right people, the right data approach — together? Technology.

Just as sustainability doesn’t always have to mean green building, technology doesn’t always have to be fancy or complex.

“You implement technology to improve communication, collaboration, and transparency,” explains Cohn. “Those capabilities are what truly allow an organization to build a sustainable facility and be proactive about the future, not reactive.”

For some, the tools may be as basic as email, instant messenger, or spreadsheets — anything that enables more near-real-time interaction and shared mutual accessibility.

“Those are good places to start if you don’t have anything in place,” Cohn says. “But it’s also important to remember that there are so many other valuable tools and technologies available at an affordable price point that can bring these elements together to create a seamless experience, reduce risk and increase the chance of success when it comes to sustainability.”

For example, construction management platforms can bring together multiple stakeholders to support prioritization, ideation, planning, and progress, all while tracking the impact of decisions and project changes.

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Other forward-thinking technologies include data-driven digital twins. While they may be too advanced for healthcare project teams still getting comfortable with foundational tools, these platforms can be game-changers that support ongoing sustainability for teams that are ready for them.

Digital twins offer a clear view of resource use throughout the project life cycle, including post-occupancy. They can track variables including:

• Real-time energy-consumption levels
• Material consumption
• Emissions
• Equipment performance
• Space utilization
• Asset location and status
• Staff allocation
• Patient flows

“The ability to create a living model of the facility that captures every decision, spec, and measurement and ensure continuity across handoffs is transformative,” Tara says. “It supports smarter decisions from design to post-occupancy.”

No matter what tools you use to embed sustainability into your process, strong data-integration capabilities enable seamless communication across systems and teams, turning data into a valuable asset.

By integrating systems, you can increase transparency inside and outside the organization. You can analyze trends and performance to generate actionable insights, aligning every team and process around shared goals.

Each decision made today strengthens your healthcare system’s readiness to serve tomorrow’s patients and communities.

“Hospitals aren’t built just for today,” Tara points out. “They’re built for generations. To succeed, leaders need to not only understand sustainability and what it means, but also truly embrace it.”

Written by

Anna Toon

Director of Public Sector Marketing | Procore Technologies

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Tara Cohn

Director | Wipfli LLP

Tara Cohn is a director with over 15 years of experience in providing healthcare data analytics services. She helps leaders improve decision-making and achieve success with the use of data analytics. Tara’s experience includes provider practice, hospital/health system and healthcare startup/technology. She is a healthcare subject matter expert and has supported initiatives across operations, clinical care, quality, compliance, patient experience, population health, marketing, strategic planning, finance, revenue cycle and human resources. Tara’s passion is in leveraging data analytics to help organizations achieve their full potential with a focus on transparency, optimization and automation via the power of data storytelling.

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