Energy

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory opened the $59 million Chu Hall in September of 2015. Designed by SmithGroupJJR of San Francisco, the three-story, 39,000-sf facility will support research on electrochemical and photovoltaic solar energy technologies. Chu Hall houses the administrative offices of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute as well as the northern branch of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, a laboratory created in partnership with the California Institute of Technology and funded by the Department of Energy.

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.

Centennial College is planning to build the $42 million Aerospace Campus in Toronto. Designed by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA) with Stantec as engineering consultant, the project includes renovation of the historic de Havilland Building at Downsview Park to provide classrooms and laboratories for programs in aviation. The campus will also house research and development space to support the development of advanced aircraft manufacturing technologies. Occupancy is expected in late 2017.

Purdue University broke ground in June of 2015 on the $50 million Indiana Advanced Manufacturing Research Center in West Lafayette. Located in the Purdue Research Park, the 62,000-sf facility will support the creation of advanced composite materials and will feature production simulation and 3D printing technologies. Purdue will initially occupy 30,000 sf in the center, which will provide 32,000 sf of leasable space for industry partners. The project is supported by funding from the Department of Energy and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute is partnering with the New York Power Authority to create the Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe) in Albany, N.Y. Supporting collaborative energy infrastructure research, the facility will enable the simulation, development, testing, and deployment of advanced electrical grid technologies.

The University of Wyoming broke ground in March of 2015 on the $53.5 million High Bay Research Facility in Laramie. Supporting the development of advanced oil and gas reservoir technologies, the 90,000-sf project will provide flexible, large-scale research space as well as offices, conference rooms, and conventional laboratories. The facility will house the Center of Innovation for Flow in Porous Media, the Improved Recovery Laboratory, the Geomechanical/Petrology Laboratory, and the Structures Research Laboratory.

Brookhaven National Laboratory celebrated the dedication of the $912 million National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) in February of 2015 in Upton, N.Y. The 627,000-sf facility houses a medium-energy electron storage ring that can produce the brightest X-ray light in the world as well as ultraviolet and infrared light. The NSL-II will support multidisciplinary research in advanced materials, nanotechnology, condensed matter, materials physics, chemistry, and biology.

Montana Tech will break ground in April of 2015 on the $10 million Natural Resources Research Center in Butte. Representing an expansion of the existing Engineering Laboratory Classroom Building, the three-story, 32,000-sf addition will provide instructional space, a student project studio area, and labs for nanotechnology, energy, and petroleum research. Occupancy is expected in fall of 2016.

The University of California, Los Angeles is constructing the $130 million Engineering VI building for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. The six-story, 150,000-sf project was designed by BNIM and Moore Ruble Yudell with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant. The multidisciplinary facility will provide temperature-stabilized, low-vibration, and low-electromagnetic environments for the development of advanced energy technologies.

SUNY Polytechnic is building the $191 million Zero-Energy Nanotechnology (ZEN) building in Albany, N.Y. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering to support clean energy research, the 360,000-sf facility will provide labs, classrooms, offices, and a large central atrium. The building will also house the new data center for the state of New York and the headquarters of the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium. CommerceHub will occupy 50,000 sf in the building.

The University of Oklahoma dedicated the $15 million Radar Innovations Lab in October of 2014. Located on the OU Research Campus in Norman, the 35,000-sf facility provides advanced research space for the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences. Designed to promote interaction and collaboration, the building features high bay labs, prototyping fabrication areas, a testing suite, an experimental observation deck, and two precision anechoic chambers. Ground was broken on the project in October of 2012.

The Department of Energy opened the $54 million General Purpose Laboratory at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in October of 2014. The 43,000-sf facility provides 33 labs for the study of renewable energy, battery technologies, and life sciences. Designed by RMW Architecture and Interiors, the sustainably designed project features occupancy sensors for lighting, temperature, and equipment. The General Purpose Lab will accommodate approximately 130 researchers and is part of an ongoing seismic renovation of the LBNL campus.

The University of Illinois dedicated the $95 million Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building in Urbana in October of 2014. Designed by SmithGroup of Chicago, the six-story, 235,000-sf facility provides advanced classrooms, labs, and equipment suites for interdisciplinary research in biotechnology, communications, computing, energy, and nanotechnology.

Binghamton University broke ground in August of 2014 on the $70 million Smart Energy Research and Development Facility in Vestal, N.Y. Housing the departments of physics and chemistry, the two-story, 114,000-sf project will include laboratories, 45 faculty offices, and a total of 125 fume hoods. The building will accommodate research programs in solar and thermoelectric energy harvesting, energy storage, energy efficiency in electronic systems, and sensor development for energy resource management.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority will begin construction in 2015 on the $26.2 million Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) facility in Abingdon in the United Kingdom. Located at the Culham Science Centre, the 32,300-sf project will provide advanced R&D labs for the creation of robotic technologies for nuclear, aerospace, construction, mining, and marine applications. Completion is expected by early 2016.