As Nurses, you understand that health doesn’t begin and end at the bedside. Clean air, safe water, stable climate conditions, and healthy communities are all part of the bigger picture of patient care. Today, hospitals across the country, and around the world, are reimagining what it means to heal by embracing the concept of green hospitals.
A green hospital is designed and operated to minimize its environmental footprint while improving patient healing outcomes. In 2026, these facilities are increasingly common, driven by a global market projected to reach $58.39 billion this year.
Green healthcare practices have the potential to simultaneously address health disparities, climate vulnerabilities, and global sustainability challenges. By implementing environmentally friendly and climate-resilient strategies, healthcare systems can contribute to health equity and climate justice while advancing several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Some of the goals include:
- Lowering greenhouse gas emissions
- Reducing waste and single-use materials
- Conserving water and energy
- Using safer, non-toxic materials
- Supporting climate resilience
Healthcare contributes roughly 8–10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the nation’s largest industrial sectors. That means hospitals have a powerful opportunity, and responsibility, to lead environmental change.
According to Shira Abeles, MD, medical director of sustainability and infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego Health, our personal health is directly tied to the health of our planet.
"The impacts of environmental pollution and climate change are directly tied to human health," said Abeles. "The well-being of our planet needs urgent attention; we can't make people healthy on a sick planet."
Leaders in the Green Hospital Movement
Kaiser Permanente: Carbon Neutral Healthcare
In 2020, Kaiser Permanente became the first major U.S. health system to achieve carbon neutrality. Through large-scale solar installations, energy-efficient construction, and sustainable food sourcing, the system dramatically reduced its environmental footprint.
Providence: Waste-Free Goals
Providence has committed to becoming carbon negative and significantly reducing landfill waste. Their waste optimization scorecards track recycling, composting, and reuse efforts across multiple hospitals.
Food composting programs, reusable surgical supplies, and careful waste segregation are part of a broader strategy to move toward zero waste healthcare.
Innovations Shaping the Future of Green Hospitals
The future of healthcare sustainability goes beyond recycling bins. It involves systemic redesign.
Reprocessing and Circular Supply Chains
Many hospitals now partner with FDA-regulated reprocessing companies to safely sterilize and reuse certain “single-use” medical devices. This diverts tons of plastic from landfills and reduces procurement emissions. Circular healthcare models aim to keep materials in use longer, reducing demand for new manufacturing.
Climate-Resilient Hospital Design
New hospitals are being built with flood-resistant infrastructure, backup renewable energy systems, and water conservation technologies. Climate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, and hospitals must remain operational during disasters.
Green design improves not only sustainability but also resilience.
Electrification and Renewable Energy
Hospitals are installing solar arrays, battery storage systems, and electric vehicle fleets. Electrifying hospital operations reduces reliance on fossil fuels and decreases local air pollution, improving community health outcomes.
The Road Ahead
The future of green hospitals is ambitious but necessary. National and global healthcare systems are setting targets to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. Sustainable purchasing, low-carbon pharmaceuticals, plant-forward hospital menus, and toxin-free materials are becoming standard goals.
We are entering a new era of healthcare, one where healing extends beyond the individual to the ecosystem itself.
Every IV bag, every disposable gown, every kilowatt of electricity used has a ripple effect. Green hospitals remind us that our mission is not only to treat illness, but to safeguard the conditions that allow health to flourish in the first place.