Energy Use Reduction

CRISPR Therapeutics signed a full-building lease in July of 2020 for a 263,500-sf facility in Boston's Seaport district. Breakthrough Properties is the developer for the project, which was designed by Payette to provide best-in-class laboratory environments for life science research. Both LEED Gold and Fitwel certification will be sought for the structure, which will offer multiple amenities including outdoor terraces and a fitness center.

Saint Louis University opened the $50 million Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Building in August of 2020 in St. Louis. Designed by Hastings+Chivetta with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the three-story, 90,000-sf facility features a full-height atrium, 10,000 sf of research space, and an active learning classroom that can accommodate up to 210 students.

Lincoln Property Company broke ground in July of 2020 on a 140,000-sf life science building in Waltham, Mass. Designed by DiMella Shaffer in collaboration with AHA Consulting Engineers, the four-story structure will offer 35,000 sf of flexible and customizable office and laboratory space on each floor. A robust mechanical penthouse will support the installation of sophisticated infrastructure, and highly resilient energy and telecommunications services will be ensured by an onsite emergency power supply.

UC Davis Health will renovate an existing 194,000-sf facility to provide consolidated administrative space in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Designed by Stantec, the $48 million project will enhance efficiency for several operational groups by creating a central collaborative location. Offering flexible workstation environments, focus rooms, huddle areas, conference rooms, and gathering spaces, the building will accommodate employees working in human resources, finance, revenue, information technology, and executive leadership.

York University will begin construction in August of 2020 on the CAD$275.5 million Markham Centre Campus in Markham, Ontario. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the 10-story, 400,000-sf facility will provide engaging teaching and research environments for 4,200 students, with the flexibility to respond to future growth demands. Offering a variety of interaction areas and common spaces, the collaborative building will accommodate programs in digital technologies, data analytics, business, entrepreneurship, new media, and communications.

California Polytechnic State University is constructing the $125 million William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The four-story, 103,800-sf facility will collocate the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Nova Scotia Community College began construction in July of 2020 on the new Marconi Campus. Located on the waterfront in downtown Sydney, the complex will provide state-of-the-art learning environments and open collaboration areas for new and existing programs. Accommodating approximately 1,400 students, the project will include a pedestrian skyway and community spaces to encourage public engagement.

Brown University is constructing the 96,000-gsf Wellness Center and Residence Hall in Providence, R.I. Designed by William Rawn Associates, the facility collocates a 162-bed dormitory with a student hub offering physical, mental, and emotional health services. The sustainably designed building integrates a hybrid framing structure comprised of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and steel components. Featuring natural interior finishes, the facility will provide easily accessible outdoor spaces, with upper floors benefitting from exceptional views.

York University will begin construction in mid-2022 on the 53,420-sf Neuroscience Laboratory and Research Building in Toronto. Designed by HDR, the two-story facility will provide sophisticated wet labs, research offices, and labs for neuropsychology and kinesiology. Located on the Keele Campus, the project will be physically connected to the existing Sherman Health Science Research Centre by a lower-level corridor.

Atlassian, a leading Australian software development company, is planning to construct a 40-story headquarters tower in Sydney. Anchoring a new technology precinct, the project is expected to be the tallest hybrid timber building in the world when it opens in 2025. Designed by SHoP Architects and BVN Architecture, the zero-emission facility will utilize only renewable energy and is targeting a 50 percent reduction in embodied carbon and energy consumption as compared to a conventional structure.

The University of Toronto will begin construction in summer of 2020 on the 265,000-sf Passive House Student Residence on the Scarborough campus. The 746-bed development will accommodate three distinct residential communities, with private study spaces, gathering areas, and kitchen facilities in each cluster. A high-performance building envelope with a vertically patterned aluminum cladding system will frame strategically sized windows, maximizing access to natural light while minimizing heat loss.

Arc Skoru has launched the Arc Re-Entry platform to support the safe reoccupancy of buildings during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Providing facilities owners and managers with a set of tools for data acquisition and analysis, Arc Re-Entry can be used to:

The University of Salford will begin construction in summer of 2021 on the £13 million Centre of Excellence in Intelligent Automation and Robotics in the United Kingdom. Designed by 5plus architects, the 21,000-sf facility will provide a variety of instructional spaces as well as specialized labs for robotics, manufacturing, and health technologies. An automotive hub on the ground floor will accelerate the development of new transportation and mobility solutions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will begin construction in early 2021 on the 160,000-sf High Containment Continuity Laboratory in Atlanta. Designed by a joint venture of Flad Architects and Page, the BSL-4 facility will support the CDC's mission to rapidly detect and mitigate public health hazards. Accommodating approximately 80 investigators, the state-of-the-art laboratory will be one of three centers in the world designed and certified to facilitate diagnostic research on specific, select viruses.

Intelligent building solutions that combine building automation systems (BAS), computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), the Internet of Things (IoT), smart building technologies, and data analytics software are being used to reduce energy costs, optimize operations, enhance user experience, and, most recently, adhere to standards established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As these technologies and platforms converge, more buildings and campuses are leveraging systems integration to optimize resource management, establish proactive maintenance programs, automate processes, and increase productivity.