Operating Cost

Exponential growth in the use and development of genetically engineered rodent models during the last several decades has resulted in researchers at many institutions requiring ever-increasing amounts of vivarium space. However, new technologies will drive different design considerations and space planning in future rodent facilities, says Neil S. Lipman, professor and executive director of the Center of Comparative Medicine and Pathology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine.

WuXi Biologics began construction in May of 2019 on a $365 million pharmaceutical production facility in Dundalk, Ireland. Sited on 52 acres, the 522,000-sf contract manufacturing center will utilize single-use technologies and processes, enabling cost-effective scale-out and the simultaneous production of multiple batches of varying volumes. Commercial operations are expected to begin in 2022 at the site, which will be the company's first manufacturing plant outside of China.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office announced up to $33.5 million in funding in May of 2019 for early-stage research and development of advanced building construction techniques to reduce energy costs. The Advanced Building Construction with Energy-Efficient Technologies & Practices (ABC) initiative aims to develop deep energy retrofit and new construction technologies that holistically tackle a combination of envelope, heating, cooling, water heating, and ventilation issues.

Novo Nordisk's global production will be entirely powered by renewable energy by early 2020, with a ten-year goal of achieving zero carbon emissions from operations and transportation. The pharmaceutical company has made a $70 million investment in a 105-megawatt-dc solar energy installation to be built in Pender County, North Carolina.

The University of Groningen will begin construction in summer of 2019 on the 690,000-sf Feringa Building in the Netherlands. The $285 million facility will provide labs, cleanrooms, lecture halls, classrooms, and offices to support science and engineering programs. Specialized laboratories, located entirely on the north face of the building to mitigate weather conditions, will accommodate research in materials science, nanotechnology, chemical engineering, and astronomy.

Using the Lean continuous improvement process to increase efficiency and productivity is seen frequently in the manufacturing and automotive sectors, but less often in animal research facilities. Those who have used Lean to overhaul animal facilities say there is a lack of understanding in the industry about how this methodology can drastically boost efficiency, lower operating costs, decrease waste, improve sustainability, enhance program flexibility, increase capacity, and lower space requirements.

Too many expensive new science buildings are failing to meet their critical operational requirements. The number one cause of this costly and damaging outcome is a common yet preventable gap between 'build' and 'operate' that results in post-construction O&M staffing being too little, too late, and unprepared. But wait, there’s an algorithm for that!

Boden Type Data Center One opened in February of 2019 in Boden, Sweden. Designed as a prototype for data center energy efficiency, the 500-kilowatt facility will operate with minimal environmental impact by implementing a range of highly innovative building systems and technologies. Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, the project was developed by a consortium of firms including H1 Systems, EcoCooling, Fraunhofer IOSB, RISE SICS North, and Boden Business Agency.

York University opened the $50 million Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study & Research Building in Toronto in January of 2019. Designed by Baird Sampson Neuert Architects to accommodate programs for the Schulich School of Business, the 67,000-sf facility features one 90-seat and two 60-seat flat floor classrooms, 10 breakout rooms, four seminar rooms, and a three-story atrium with open seating, collaboration areas, and a café.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is planning to build a $33 million R&D facility for the creation of technologies for Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB) in Kamakura, Japan. The project will accelerate the company’s development, evaluation, and demonstration of ZEB technologies to meet the growing demand for buildings that combine comfort and superior energy savings. Mitsubishi Electric’s ZEB technologies are part of the company’s wide-ranging effort to help achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The National University of Singapore opened the six-story, 92,000-sf Net-Zero Energy Building in January of 2019. Providing design studios, teaching and research space, and common areas for the School of Design and Environment, SDE4 is the first new-build, net-zero facility in Singapore. WELL certification will be sought for the project, which features a rooftop solar farm with 1225 panels, a hybrid cooling system, and a narrow floorplate to optimize passive ventilation and natural lighting.

College of the Atlantic will begin construction in spring of 2019 on the $13 million Center for Human Ecology in Bar Harbor, Maine. Designed by GO Logic and Susan T. Rodriguez to accommodate the school's unique interdisciplinary curriculum, the two-story, 29,000-sf building will provide science labs, flexible lecture halls, faculty offices, art and design studios, and a teaching greenhouse.

Eastern Michigan University opened the renovated and expanded Strong Hall in Ypsilanti in January of 2019. Designed by Stantec, the $40 million project creates flexible teaching and research labs, classrooms, and lecture halls for STEM education including programs in geology, geography, physics, and astronomy. Featuring internal glass walls to put science on display, the 80,700-sf facility provides an atrium, a 200-seat auditorium, a maker space, a machine shop, a laser lab, faculty offices, conference rooms, and huddle spaces.

University of Michigan transformed Weiser Hall—a 1960s brick tower with floor after floor of double-loaded, concrete block corridors—into a dynamic and flexible “center of centers” that brings together international and interdisciplinary institutes and centers so they can share space, services, and ideas. The provost’s charge was to renovate the building to create the “academic workplace of the future.” With the help of brightspot strategy and Diamond Schmitt architects, the team accomplished that mission with a seven-step formula that yielded impressive results, including an average overall productivity savings of 4.26 hours per person per week, the equivalent of every unit being able to grow its staff by 10 percent at no cost.

More and more, workers aren’t going to an office and sitting at the same desk Monday through Friday. Today’s architects, builders, institutions, and designers need to plan for a future in which workers are nomads—moving from one place to another within a building or campus, or showing up in the office just one or two days a week. These nomadic workers are often mobile by choice, taking advantage of the flexibility that technology has enabled for academic staff, knowledge workers, and even healthcare employees.