Health care facilities (HCFs) play an important role in communities, providing a safe, secure, accessible, and inclusive space for patients, staff, and visitors. To fulfill this role, they must be designed and built for efficient operation and to respond to the evolving needs of the communities they serve.

The standard CSA Z8000, Canadian health care facilities, has been providing evidence-based guidance to support the key objectives of HCFs through design for more than ten years. The 2024 edition of the standard builds on this legacy, helping design HCFs for the future, including:

• Improving the quality of life in long-term care

CSA Z8000:24 recommends designing long-term care (LTC) homes with consideration for the programs and services they provide. LTC home design should support residents in living to their full capabilities while incorporating the necessary safety and security features. It should promote a home-like, residential-style environment rather than an institutional setting, for example, by creating spaces where residents can congregate, prepare food together, or enjoy a private dinner with their families.

• Strengthening the climate resilience of health care infrastructure

CSA Z8000 highlights the importance of integrating climate change resilience in the planning, design, construction, and operation of HCFs to help ensure they can provide continuous service during and after extreme weather events. The standard requires developing and implementing a Climate Resilience Plan, assessing climate-related risks, and adopting climate-resilience measures and strategies, such as using heat pumps, renewable energy sources, or contingency planning for extreme weather and supply shortages, to name a few.

• Reducing the environmental impacts of HCFs

CSA Z8000 provides guidance on developing a structured, performance-based sustainability program that integrates health care, energy efficiency, and climate change policies and actions in a holistic and coherent manner. By applying sustainability principles, including responsible use of water, energy, and other resources, business continuity, and adaptive capacity, HCFs can have a positive environmental impact.

• Balancing design approaches with practical realities of northern, small, and remote communities

Logistical challenges, the harsh climate, building on permafrost, and access to material may make it difficult and expensive for some communities to comply with the requirements of CSA standards. CSA Z8000 recommends using an ethical design framework to engage the community, understand how the HCF can best serve the community, and asses if modifications or adaptations of CSA Z8000 are necessary.

CSA Z8000:24 aims to lead the health care sector toward sustainability and climate resilience and contribute to better health outcomes and the well-being of patients and health care workers. Visit CSA Group’s website to learn more about CSA Z8000 and other standards and research for HCFs and the complex systems and processes within them.