The International WELL Building Institute launched the WELL Health-Safety Rating for all building and facility types in June of 2020. The evidence-based, third-party-verified rating system focuses on operational policies, maintenance protocols, and design strategies for the post-COVID-19 environment.
Access to quick, reliable, and repeated testing has been one of the greatest challenges for businesses, institutions, and individuals during the SARS-CoV-2 crisis. HOK has partnered with Germfree Laboratories to design a mobile testing lab that will help large organizations to meet this urgent need. These self-contained biocontainment facilities can provide advanced, onsite capabilities for any setting.
The U.S. Department of Energy is planning to begin construction in 2021 on the $75 million Grid Storage Launchpad at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. Designed as a resource hub for the development of next-generation grid energy storage technologies, the R&D facility will provide labs for basic materials synthesis and processing, in-operando characterization, small-scale cell fabrication, kilowatt-scale testing and validation, advanced prototyping, visualization, and analysis.
New guidance has been released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury which makes Paycheck Protection Program loans available to companies with 500 or fewer employees, as well as to firms that fall below the size standards set by the Small Business Administration. Construction companies, whose status is generally determined by average annual income threshold and not by number of employees, will benefit from this amendment to the previous announcement, which required a business to meet both criteria to be eligible.
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has assembled a task force to address the role of the built environment in reducing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections. Aiming to define the critical role that buildings, organizations, and communities play in infectious disease management, the work will take a broad approach in considering both new and recurring agents that can affect large populations.
Federal financial measures have been approved in the past few weeks to shore up the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, with direct monetary assistance and business loans totaling $5.5 trillion, and more support and flexibility for research universities and government contractors. The federal stimulus package—the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act—is intended to pump $2.2 trillion dollars into the economy, primarily in the healthcare and research sectors, and to provide emergency relief to institutions, businesses, and workers whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic. The specifics of how it will be implemented are still evolving, and it is likely that additional stimulus bills will be considered in the coming months, including investments in infrastructure for the nation’s research enterprise.
Pacific Northwest National Lab began construction in March of 2020 on a $90 million energy sciences research building in Richland, Wash. Designed by Kirksey Architecture, the collaborative 140,000-sf facility will enable academic, industry, and government investigators to create new energy and transportation technologies. Supporting fundamental research in chemistry, materials science, and computing, the building will include advanced instrumentation suites housing next-generation imaging and microscopy devices.
A $2.2 trillion stimulus package will support the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) will be available to the agencies through September of 2024. The CDC will receive $4.3 billion in new funding, which includes $1.5 billion for joint initiatives with state and local governments. The NIH has been allocated $945.4 million, which will be directed to:
The National Center for Atmospheric Research broke ground in February of 2020 on a $22 million facility in Broomfield, Colo. Located at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, the two-story, 42,391-sf complex will provide advanced research labs for the study of weather, climate, and air quality. Offering sophisticated suites for instrument calibration, the project will support campaign planning and briefing activities for NCAR's field missions, as well as accommodating two research aircraft.
The National Institutes of Health is planning to build a dementia research center in Bethesda, Md. The 24,000-sf facility will provide labs, open collaboration spaces, conference rooms, and offices to support the discovery of new diagnostic tools and treatments for Alzheimer's disease and related conditions. The single-story structure will be delivered in less than two years using modular construction technologies. The cost of the project has yet to be determined, with estimates ranging from $25 to $100 million.
NASA will begin construction in March of 2020 on the 54,000-sf Aerospace Communications Facility in Cleveland. Located at the Glenn Research Center, the structure will provide approximately 25 R&D labs, a shielded high-bay space, and areas for rooftop and ground-based antennae fields. The project has a maximum construction contract value of $33.8 million and will be built by The Austin Company. A minimum of LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which will include a geothermal system to enhance energy performance.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is constructing the Operations Support Building in Huntsville, Ala. Aided by $385 million in FY2019 funding, the facility is part of a $1 billion project to create the FBI’s HQ2 campus at the Redstone Arsenal. Enabling the relocation of approximately 4,000 employees from other locations, the six-building complex will support the bureau's cybercrime research and response operations. Three of the planned facilities, including the Operations Support Building, are currently under construction.
The U.S. Department of Transportation broke ground in late October of 2019 on the 400,000-sf John A. Volpe Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the project involves the construction of a $750 million transportation research facility sited on four acres, which will be funded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The remaining ten acres currently occupied by the Department of Transportation will be released to the university for mixed-use development.
Idaho National Laboratory opened two new computing research facilities in Idaho Falls in October of 2019. Designed by Flad Architects, the $90 million project will accommodate joint research with Idaho State University, Boise State University, and the University of Idaho.
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.
