A Derisked, Owner-Aligned Project Delivery Model

Grady Health System, one of the largest essential hospitals in the U.S, faced an urgent challenge: its 75-year-old offsite steam boiler plant had reached the end of its useful life. The plant’s inefficiencies led to wasted heat, high fossil fuel use and CO₂ emissions, while occupying a valuable land parcel.

Replacing this legacy system required an innovative project delivery structure capable of balancing modernization, cost control, and operational continuity—without overpaying or compromising patient care. To solve this, Grady partnered with Oakwell to apply Transparent Project Delivery (TPD)—an open-book, risk-sharing, turnkey project delivery framework designed to improve efficiency and accountability in complex capital and infrastructure projects.

Oakwell applied Transparent Project Delivery to redesign the solution around long-term owner value. Instead of pursuing a costly like-for-like replacement, the team delivered an innovative onsite solution within the main Grady building — reducing waste, improving resiliency, freeing up land, and generating significant savings that could be redirected toward patient care. The project yielded $30 million in cost savings, an 18% reduction in natural gas consumption and freed up a land parcel of approx. 5,000 square feet.

This efficient design and delivery resulted in more savings for Grady, reduced environmental impact and freed up resources that could be reinvested into patient care and advancing their mission.

‍
_{*Representative image}