Energy

Baker Hughes General Electric, a subsidiary of GE, is planning to build a £31 million Centre of Excellence in Montrose, Scotland. The company's existing facilities will be expanded and renovated to create a leading-edge R&D complex for the manufacture, testing, and assembly of subsea equipment for oil and gas extraction and production. Sited on 35 acres, the 430,000-sf project will offer sophisticated virtual reality tools and 3D printing suites to enable the development of new manufacturing processes and technologies.

Construction will begin in late 2018 on the £20 million Maritime Knowledge Hub in Birkenhead in the United Kingdom. Located in the Wirral Waters redevelopment, the collaborative maritime education and research facility is being created by a partnership of Liverpool John Moores University, Peel Land and Property, Mersey Maritime, and Wirral Council.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) inaugurated the 145,300-sf Dow Innovation Center in May of 2018. Created in partnership with The Dow Chemical Company, the facility offers sophisticated research laboratories for creation of advanced technologies for water, oil, and gas processing, and the development of innovative construction materials and coatings. The project was designed by HOK and Kirksey Architects with Vanderweil Engineers as MEP engineer.

The University of Tennessee will break ground in fall of 2018 on a $129 million engineering building in Knoxville. Designed by McCarty Holsaple McCarty with SmithGroupJJR as laboratory planner, the facility will comprise a central structure with two wings of up to five stories. The 228,000-sf project will provide flexible classrooms and research labs, maker spaces, project rooms, informal interaction areas, an atrium, and dedicated space for the department of nuclear engineering.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories began construction in February of 2018 on three new facilities in Chalk River, Ontario. Representing an investment of over CAD$100 million, the project includes:

At its new West Campus, Yale University is incrementally repurposing and renovating a former corporate pharmaceutical manufacturing facility for new interdisciplinary programs, including the Energy Sciences Institute (ESI) and Yale West Campus Materials Characterization Core (MCC).

The Department of Energy is planning research infrastructure upgrades to multiple user facilities. The U.S. House of Representatives passed three bills in November of 2017 to provide funding for these projects. 

The Research Infrastructure Act directs and authorizes the Secretary of Energy to:

The University of Michigan is planning to begin construction in spring of 2018 on the $90 million Engineering Laboratory Building (ELB) in Dearborn. Designed by SmithGroupJJR, the 120,000-sf project will include 63,000 sf of new construction and 57,000 sf of renovated space. Promoting collaborative learning and innovation, the multidisciplinary facility will offer 28 labs, 23 faculty offices, and five general classrooms.

Vanderbilt University’s new Engineering and Science Building (ESB) brings the physical sciences and engineering together to expand interdisciplinary research in biomedical engineering, energy, and materials; recruit faculty in areas of nanotechnology and environmental engineering; and create a new undergraduate research-focused culture on campus.

Binghamton University opened the $70 million Smart Energy Building in late August of 2017 in Vestal, N.Y. Located in the Innovative Technologies Complex, the two-story, 114,000-sf project accommodates research and development programs for the departments of chemistry and physics. Supporting the creation of advanced clean energy solutions, the collaborative facility provides laboratories, classrooms, 45 faculty offices, and a total of 125 fume hoods.

Bigger is not always better when it comes to generators and their distribution systems. Oversizing a piece of equipment has a domino effect on the infrastructure needed to support it and the square footage it occupies, as well as capital, operating, and maintenance costs, all of which cut into funding that could go toward research. Determining which generator is best for a research facility requires an understanding of many factors, including the current and projected loads, site parameters, risk assessment, flexibility requirements, and operating concerns.

The State of Idaho will begin construction in mid-2017 on two new research facilities at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls. The 80,000-sf Cybercore Integration Center will accommodate cybersecurity research, development, and education. The 67,000-sf Collaborative Computing Center will house a supercomputer for advanced simulation and modeling operations. The estimated construction cost of both facilities is $75 million. The new centers will be owned by the state of Idaho and leased by INL, which is managed by Battelle.

Drexel University is initiating $6.6 million in energy efficiency upgrades at its Philadelphia campus. Funded by the state of Pennsylvania’s Campus Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF), the project will reduce energy consumption and emissions, upgrade five key buildings, increase comfort and safety in labs and classrooms, and lower overall operating costs. Upon completion, Drexel’s energy consumption will decrease by more than 25 percent in three science buildings and two mixed-use campus facilities which cumulatively account for more than 430,000 sf.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory broke ground in late January of 2017 on the $91.5 million Integrative Genomics Building in Berkeley, Calif. Designed by SmithGroup, the four-story, 82,604-gsf facility will house approximately 300 researchers and staff from the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and the Systems Biology Knowledgebase.

The University of Calgary opened the CAD$174 million Canadian Natural Resources Limited Engineering Complex in November of 2016 in Alberta, Canada. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the expansion project comprises a 197,000-sf addition and 119,000 sf of renovated space for the Schulich School of Engineering. The collaborative facility features a programmable dynamic view glass façade and provides two new floors of research laboratories for the study of renewable energy resources and the development of clean energy technologies.