Brookhaven National Lab Breaks Ground on Center for Functional Nanomaterials

Brookhaven National Laboratory celebrated the groundbreaking of the 94,500-sf Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) in Upton, N.Y., in October of 2005. Designed by HDR Architecture of Alexandria, Va., and constructed by E.W. Howell Co. of Woodbury, N.Y., the $81-million CFN is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers to be constructed at Department of Energy national laboratories. The construction cost of the facility is $38 million. The rest of the project budget consists of specialized equipment and engineering and project management services. Occupying nine square acres on Brookhaven's 5,300-acre site, the CFN will accommodate 150 people. Containing six laboratory clusters and cleanroom capacity ranging from Class 10 to Class 10,000, the facility will provide access to beamlines at the National Synchroton Light Source as well as housing electron microscopy and lithography-based fabrication spaces. Designed to meet the sustainable design criteria of the U.S. Green Building Council, completion is expected by March 2007. Research at the CFN will focus on the fields of nanocatalysis, biological and soft nanomaterials, and electronic nanomaterials.