Sustainability Annual Report 2025
UCSF Health continues to innovate in medical sustainability and commitment to reducing landfill waste.
This year the organization implemented strategies to address waste and worked with the cross-departmental UCSF Health Zero Waste Working Group to establish a blue wrap recycling program, swap single-use patient positioning foam for a reusable gel product, and reignite the medical supply donation program and e-waste recycling collection. Community education was expanded with digital sorting signage to encourage proper sorting, and dashboards were developed and published that tracked metrics from energy and water conservation to transportation.
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UCSF also began using multiuse anesthesia breathing circuits, devices that deliver oxygen and anesthesia gases to patients during surgery. These reusable circuits, also known as multiple patient circuits, can be used for up to 24 hours when paired with a modern filter system, rather than being disposed of after each patient. On a related front, UCSF Health Procurement worked with vendors to lower emissions from the transportation of purchased goods by decreasing weekly deliveries from seven to six and centralizing distribution locations. This led to a reduction of over 2,000 gallons of diesel use and related air pollution in the local community.
Stories
Climate Ready Healthcare: Building Resilience with Collaborative Toolkits
As the climate crisis increasingly threatens health care operations, UCSF Health is advancing innovative strategies to strengthen system resilience. The newly published UCSF Health Climate Resilience Emergency Management Toolkit offers a proactive framework for health centers to prepare for and adapt to climate-related disruptions.
Setting a New Standard for Renewable Design
The opening of Bayfront Medical Building, UCSF Health’s first all-electric facility, exemplifies UCSF’s commitment to energy efficiency and carbon reduction. The building operates day-to-day wholly without the use of fossil fuels, using 100% carbon-free power from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Bayfront achieved LEED Gold certification and features an innovative heat recovery system that both increases efficiency and saves an estimated 64% of the building’s annual water load compared to traditional systems.
ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI)
UC San Francisco Health saw a decrease in its EUI in the calendar year 2024.
FOOD
of food and beverage purchases met sustainability criteria ($908K)
of food and beverage purchases were plant-based ($2.3M)
UCSF Health partnered with a new food donation vendor, allowing for a more robust edible food collection program.
Green building
UCSF Health’s Bayfront Medical Building, a new outpatient surgery center in the Mission Bay neighborhood, achieved LEED Gold in 2024. Bayfront is all-electric and carbon-free and was built with a low-carbon concrete mix. UCSF Health now has eight LEED certifications. Two electric buildings, Bayfront and Peninsula Outpatient Center, were occupied during this cycle.
3 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Certified
Total number of LEED certifications
Healthy Vending
healthy vending spend on food ($10K)
healthy vending spend on beverages ($6K)
Healthy vending is defined as meeting UC’s Healthy Vending Guidelines. Data is from 2023–24.
UCSF Health utilizes smart kiosk Byte vending machines, which are managed and stocked by the Nutrition and Food Services team, to offer fresh meals and healthy snacks and drinks to customers.
procurement
UCSF Health Procurement works to increase green spend across categories and decrease the number of single-use devices used through reprocessing. Appliance and IT hardware green spend was lower in fiscal year 2025 compared with 2024 due to missing vendor data and purchases of several refrigerators in 2024. Additionally, the number of devices collected for reprocessing decreased because UCSF Health did not renew its contract with a vendor responsible for ligature collection.
green spend on appliances and IT hardware (98%)
green spend on office supplies (26%)
cost savings through medical device reprocessing (representing 119,322 pounds of waste avoided)
Green spend is defined as meeting preferred or minimum criteria in UC’s Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.
Suppliers reporting: Appliances and IT hardware (1), Office supplies (1).
“Reprocessing” refers to the FDA-approved re-manufacturing process carried out on a used device, including cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, testing and related procedures to allow its safe reuse. This process allows health facilities to reduce their reliance on single-use devices.
WATER
*Based on a 3-year average of fiscal years 2005-08
**2025 goal is a 36% reduction from baseline.
For fiscal year 2024–25, water usage increased due to equipment malfunctions, primarily caused by a malfunctioning MRI chiller in Medical Office Building 1 and issues with the irrigation valves at Mission Bay. An MRI chiller is a specialized cooling system that regulates the temperature of MRI machines, which generate significant heat during operation. When the chiller is not functioning properly, it can lead to increased water consumption as part of emergency cooling or temporary workaround systems.
ZERO WASTE – GENERATION
*Per capita figures are calculated using Adjusted Patient Day (APD).
**Data provided if not counted in other waste streams.
UCSF Health launched new diversion projects, including the Medical Supply Donations Program, a blue wrap recycling program, and reusable dishware in the cafes. All UCSF Health sites are also in compliance with the San Francisco Refuse Separation Ordinance, which fines for excessive contamination of the municipal waste streams.
Single-Use Plastics Phase-Out
Complete Phase-out*
- Plastic bags
- Foodware (third-party dining facilities)
- Beverage bottles (UC dining facilities)
- Beverage bottles (vending machines)
Partial Phase-out
- Foodware (UC dining facilities)
Starting Soon
- N/A
*Complete phase-out of single-use plastics may include exemptions where reasonable alternatives to plastic do not exist.
UCSF Health continued making progress toward eliminating single-use plastics. In addition to phasing out plastic bags and water bottles, the health center made strides on reducing single-use plastics by launching a reusable dishware program at two medical center cafes.
Awards
UCSF Health was recognized for the 15th consecutive year by Practice Greenhealth with the Greenhealth Emerald Award. UCSF Health also received the Transportation Circle of Excellence award. UCSF Health Stanyan Hospital submitted its first Practice Greenhealth application and received the Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change Award.
A full list of awards is featured on the UC Office of the President’s website.
Combined Data
Progress on the following policy areas for this Health System is reported by the campus location: