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Kaiser Permanente's has always viewed environmental responsibility as integral to healthcare. This philosophy traces back to Henry Kaiser himself, who installed air pollution control equipment on factory smokestacks long before regulations required it. He believed healthcare organizations should be a part of the solution, not the problem.
That commitment still shapes the organization today. In 2016, Kaiser Permanente set a vision to achieve carbon neutrality by 2020. They succeeded. Their next goal was even more ambitious: carbon net positivity by 2025.
The new Parker Medical Offices, which opened in the second half of 2025, represents Kaiser Permanente's commitment to meeting the needs of a rapidly growing Colorado community while advancing sustainability from day one. With over 2,500 additional members choosing Parker as their primary care home since 2020, the organization needed to expand with a 22,400-square-foot facility that was 30% larger than the previous leased location. Rather than building to conventional standards and retrofitting later, Kaiser Permanente integrated advanced energy-efficient infrastructure during construction.
This is the story of how the organization embedded sustainability into the foundation of their newest Colorado facility by implementing Cence Power's low-voltage DC lighting system.
Kaiser Permanente's new Parker Medical Offices needed a lighting and power infrastructure that could support the organization's carbon net positivity goals while serving a growing community. As a new construction project, the facility presented a unique opportunity to avoid the inefficiencies built into conventional lighting systems from the start.
Energy efficiency from day one: New construction offered the chance to eliminate the common pattern of building to code minimum standards, operating inefficiently for years, and eventually undertaking costly retrofits. The organization needed a lighting solution that maximized efficiency from the moment the facility opened.
Supporting Colorado's decarbonization mandate: Colorado has set aggressive targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050, with the building sector identified as the state's fifth-largest source of emissions. The Parker facility needed to align with both state-level climate goals and Kaiser Permanente's organizational sustainability commitments.
Flexible infrastructure for integrated care: The 22,400-square-foot facility was designed to house 20 exam rooms along with laboratory, imaging, pharmacy, and nurse visit areas. Each space required appropriate lighting quality while the overall infrastructure needed to support future reconfigurations as service offerings evolved.
Minimizing embodied carbon in construction: As a new build, material choices during construction would determine the facility's embodied carbon footprint for decades. Traditional AC lighting infrastructure requires extensive conduit, copper wiring, and mechanical protection, adding unnecessary material intensity to the project.
These factors pushed the design team to identify a lighting infrastructure approach that would deliver efficiency, flexibility, and sustainability from the facility's first day of operation.
Low-Voltage DC power
To meet these goals, Cence Class 2 Low-Voltage DC power distribution system was chosen as the foundational lighting infrastructure for the new Parker Medical Offices. Rather than distributing 120/277V AC throughout the ceiling, the system centralizes power conversion and delivers safe, Class 2 DC power directly to lighting loads.
Centralized Power Modules (PMs): Instead of deploying individual AC drivers throughout the ceiling, a common source of failure in conventional systems, the design team positioned power in controlled, centralized hubs. This architectural decision simplified future maintenance and improved system reliability from the start.
Class 2 Low-Voltage Distribution: By using Class 2 wiring for all lighting loads, the installation avoided the need for extensive conduit throughout the facility. This approach reduced material requirements during construction, supported the project's embodied carbon reduction goals, and simplified the installation process. For a new construction project, this meant lower upfront material costs and faster installation timelines.
Hot-swappable Architecture: The system was designed with swappable PMs to support future maintenance or capacity adjustments without interrupting clinical spaces. As the Parker facility grows to serve more patients, the infrastructure can adapt without requiring disruptive retrofits to occupied areas.
Lower Operating Costs
By distributing low-voltage DC power directly to LED fixtures, the Parker Medical Offices is expected to achieve up to 20% reduction in annual lighting-related operating costs compared to traditional AC lighting systems. Eliminating repeated AC-to-DC conversions will reduce wasted energy and lower heat introduced into the building. As energy costs rise, this efficiency gain will support the medical center's ongoing operational expense reduction strategy.
Reduced Installation and Capital Costs
The simplified low-voltage electrical architecture is expected to deliver up to 40% savings in lighting-related capital expenditures compared to a traditional AC lighting system. Reduced mechanical protection requirements and the elimination of unnecessary conduit will lower material usage, shorten installation timelines, and reduce labor complexity during construction. This approach will make future expansions or space reconfigurations faster and less disruptive as the Parker community continues to grow.
Sustainability and Decarbonization Impact
With fewer conversion losses and lower energy demand, emissions associated with lighting are expected to decrease, helping the facility meet Kaiser Permanente's carbon net positivity goals and align with Colorado's aggressive 2030 decarbonization targets. This design supports a low-carbon healthcare strategy for the future, notably by reducing embodied carbon through material efficiency and long-term system durability. By integrating efficient infrastructure during new construction, the facility avoids the embodied carbon associated with future retrofit projects.
Long-Term Reliability and Maintenance Reduction
The streamlined, low-voltage architecture reduces potential failure points and simplifies maintenance activities. Over time, this is expected to reduce lighting-related maintenance costs and support consistent performance across the facility. Centralized power components in accessible locations will enable faster service interventions without disrupting patient care areas, a critical consideration for a facility designed to serve the Parker community for decades.
Capital Expenditure Savings (Projected)
By moving to a centralized low-voltage DC power distribution system during new construction, the parker Medical Offices reduces the need for traditional AC line-voltage drivers and complex conduit runs. The system allows LED lighting to be powered directly by centralized DC, optimizing the construction budget from the start.
Modeled construction-phase efficiencies include:
Operational Costs Savings
Direct DC power eliminates internal AC-to-DC conversion stages that typically waste energy in LED lighting. Fewer conversions also reduce fixture heat, extending LED lifespan and cutting maintenance requirements. Over time, operational savings are expected from:
By combining simpler installation with energy-efficient, low-voltage design, Modesto sets the stage for long-term medical center OpEx reduction strategies - a model that can be replicated across future sites with minimal disruption. Explore how a similar low-voltage DC lighting approach was implemented at Kaiser Permanente Modesto.
