UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital and Central Utility Plant
A Future-Ready Academic Medical Center
UCSF is building the new Helen Diller Hospital at Parnassus Heights to address growing demand for specialty care, expand clinical capacity, and meet California’s mandated hospital seismic requirements. The nearly 900,000sf will increase overall inpatient bed capacity by 37 percent, expand the Emergency Department by nearly 65 percent, and add more than 30 state-of-the-art surgical and interventional procedure rooms. The project is designed around whole-patient needs, pairing advanced diagnostics and therapies with privacy, natural spaces, clean air, and human connection that support physical and emotional healing.
Mazzetti’s Role
Mazzetti is providing MEP engineering, energy modeling, lighting design, and sustainability consulting services as part of an integrated project delivery team. The work supports UCSF’s vision for a high-performance hospital that strengthens care delivery, improves campus resiliency, and creates a clear pathway for reduction of operational greenhouse gas emissions.
Central Utility Plant
The Central Utility Plant is a defining feature of the project, creating resilient energy infrastructure for the new hospital and supporting broader campus reliability. The plant is designed with heating and cooling provided by heat recovery and cooling-only electric chillers, allowing multiple operating modes and use of highly efficient equipment. It is planned to operate in parallel with the existing campus plant to optimize efficiency between both utility plants while maintaining a minimum of N+1 backup. The CUP can also island itself from the campus if a catastrophic event disrupts site distribution, allowing the new hospital to remain in full operation independent of other campus buildings. The project also adds 9 MW of emergency power generation at 12kV and includes a campus fuel oil storage and distribution system sized at 210,000 gallons to support campus diesel needs.
Decarbonization Efforts
The new hospital’s infrastructure is designed with a clear path to achieve decarbonization, in direct support of the University of California’s system-wide commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. UCSF’s broader vision targets complete electrification of central plants on the main campus by 2030.
Central to this effort is the all-electric Central Utility Plant (CUP), with heating and cooling provided by both heat recovery and cooling-only electric chillers. The new CUP operates in parallel with the existing campus plant to optimize efficiency and is designed to operate independently during a campus disruption, with 9 MW of emergency power generation and a minimum of N+1 backup at any given time.
Mazzetti also led a companion UCSF Decarbonization Planning Study for the Parnassus campus, establishing a decarbonization pathway to 2045 through electrification with 100% carbon-free power, collectively promoting carbon neutrality across UCSF.
