Sustainability

In the ever-evolving quest for sustainability, engineers and their clients may find the 2013 updates to ASHRAE 90.1, the energy code that predominantly guides the design of buildings, useful in benchmarking energy efficiency for new or remodeled laboratories and vivaria. Regular review of the code ensures compliance for new projects and offers an opportunity to refine best practices for building envelopes, mechanical systems, lighting, and noise mitigation, say Adam Golubski and Philip Walter of The Clark Enersen Partners.

The Army Institute of Public Health has awarded a $206 million contract to a joint venture of The Walsh Group and Gilbane Building Company for the Public Health Command (PHC) laboratory replacement project. Located on 20 acres at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the 275,000-sf biomedical research facility will include wet labs, field labs, offices, anechoic chambers, laser labs, a vivarium, an insectary, and a 43,000-gsf central utility plant.

Grand Valley State University dedicated the $55 million P. Douglas Kindschi Hall of Science in August of 2015 in Allendale, Mich. The four-story, 152,000-sf facility provides 15 teaching labs, 14 research labs, nine classrooms, conference rooms, study areas, a computational lab, and a 3,000-sf greenhouse. Research Facilities Design was the laboratory design consultant for the facility, which features interactive labs supporting a shared functionality in which faculty and students can engage in collaborative projects.

Olympic College will begin construction in October of 2015 on a $50.1 million academic building in Bremerton, Wash. Designed by Schacht Aslani Architects, the three-story, 70,000-sf building will feature an active learning classroom, a 276-seat theater, a two-story atrium, and instructional space for health science, music, and fine art. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which will utilize LED lighting, a 100-kilowatt photovoltaic array, and 90 percent heat recovery.

The Department of Energy opened the $10 million Systems Engineering Building in August of 2015. Located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., the 22,000-sf facility provides labs, computational space, and offices to support research on power grid dynamics and renewable energy technologies. The project, which has been awarded LEED Gold sustainable design certification, houses the Building Operations Control Center and the Power Electronics Laboratory.

Clayton State University opened its $18 million Science Building in August of 2015 in Morrow, Ga. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative, the 58,610-sf facility provides eight research labs, eight teaching labs, two 64-seat classrooms, two 36-seat classrooms, and two seminar rooms. The three-story building houses stacked biology and chemistry suites, each integrating research, prep, and teaching space.

SUNY Upstate Medical Center began construction in June of 2015 on the second phase of the Central New York Biotech Accelerator (CNYBAC) in Syracuse, N.Y. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative, the project includes the build out of the second and third floors of the facility to house the Upstate Medical Innovation and Novel Discovery Center (MIND) and the Molecular Pathology Next Generation Sequencing Lab.

Achieving the goal of near net-zero energy consumption in research facilities over the next decade and beyond will be more challenging than efforts that so far have resulted in a 40 percent energy reduction for many. Getting to 80 percent savings can put them in range, and the best way to tackle this final, achievable savings is by addressing energy and water consumption together using new technologies like more efficient lab equipment and better data center cooling systems, according to Steve Frei and Paul Erickson, principals at Affiliated Engineers, Inc.

Oregon State University is planning to build a $60 million Forest Science Complex in Corvallis. The 85,000-sf project includes construction of the 20,000-sf Advanced Wood Building Products Laboratory, which will feature a strong floor for full-scale product testing, high-bay research space, and robotic manufacturing systems. An academic building supporting programs in forestry, wood science, and renewable materials will also be constructed. Both facilities will open in fall of 2017.

BASF opened a $55 million research center in July of 2015 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The 118,400-sf facility provides laboratories and offices for approximately 200 employees in the Advanced Materials & Systems Research division. The seven-story project is strategically sited between other research buildings to foster collaboration. The center, built using BASF’s innovative construction technologies, features high-performance insulation panels based on inorganic aerogel.

The Pennsylvania State University opened the $59 million Health and Human Development Building in University Park in July of 2015. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the 140,000-sf facility provides laboratories, classrooms, conference rooms, a student commons, faculty offices, and administrative space to support the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which includes 40,000 sf of renovated space in the former Henderson Building South.

Cornell Tech began building the Roosevelt Island campus in New York in June of 2015. The site plan for the $2 billion project was created by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Corner Field Operations. The sustainably designed campus represents a partnership between Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Cornell University. The 12-acre campus will feature the Bloomberg Center designed by Morphosis to be one of the largest net-zero buildings in the United States.

Bristol-Myers Squibb will begin construction in July of 2015 on a new research and development facility in Cambridge, Mass. Providing collaborative laboratories and offices for the creation of advanced biomedical and pharmaceutical products, the sustainably designed project comprises 208,000 sf of leased space in the Alexandria Center at Kendall Square development. Completion is expected in late 2017.

Montana State University is planning to build the $50 million Norm Asbjornson Innovation Center in Bozeman. Designed by ZGF Architects of Seattle and A&E Architects of Billings, the three-story facility will house classrooms, labs, offices, and a presentation hall. The laboratory programming and design consultant for the project is Research Facilities Design (RFD).

With three research floors and a prime location within the chemistry complex at Yale University, the 70,000-sf Kline Chemistry building has the highest lab and fume hood density on campus. In renovating the 50-year-old building, the mission was to modernize the lab space while significantly improving building efficiency. In addition to a new building envelope and HVAC systems, conservation strategies include more efficient fume hood use, reduced air changes and power watt densities, minimized outside air and reheat, occupancy controls, and hood proximity sensors. As a result of these efforts, the building is projected to achieve a 30 percent energy cost savings for LEED, and to consume 35 percent less energy than other Yale laboratories. When reductions in fume hood outdoor air demand are included, cost savings are projected to be up to $500,000 beyond those in a typical code-compliant laboratory in this climate zone.