(J04) Sustainability and Biophilia Enhance Patient Outcomes at California’s First Net Zero Energy Behavioral Health Campus

Even prior to the pandemic, mental health issues affected more than 47 million Americans. However, less than half that population received psychiatric care. This significant treatment gap is attributed in part to the stigma surrounding mental illness, specifically the notion that treatment facilities are cold and sterile places reserved for only the most extreme cases. San Mateo County, CannonDesign and Skanska are working together to transform the future of behavioral healthcare design by creating California’s first Net Zero Energy Behavioral Health Campus in San Mateo County. The team will describe the challenges, successes and lessons learned from designing and building the project in a wooded hillside south of San Francisco. The project weaves together three key aspirations in a complementary and synergistic way: • To create a state-of-the-art campus for mental health to serve the County’s most vulnerable residents in a non-institutional setting. • To preserve the beauty and serenity of the existing natural environment, while taking advantage of nature and biophilia to support the therapeutic mission and to obtain the support and participation of the local community. • To set a benchmark for sustainability and resiliency, as the first mental health campus in California and the largest in the nation to achieve Zero Net Energy. The client/architect/contractor team was responsible for achieving San Mateo County’s LEED and sustainability goals and creating a resilient facility that will continue operating in the event of a natural or man-made catastrophe, while ensuring the well-being of clients who require access to independent temperature controls, kitchens to prepare food, and outdoor environments to promote mental health. The client/architect/contractor team will describe their collaborative approach to achieving these goals.