New Process Encourages Proactive Facility Management, Efficiency, and Cost Control
Project managers responsible for research facilities within Genentech Inc. now all follow a standardized process recently created to enhance the efficiency of selecting which project delivery method is best suited to each project's unique needs.

Approach Produces High-Value Project Outcomes and Cost Performance
The University of California, Irvine (UCI), has a 15-year history of proven success in constructing award-winning research buildings utilizing a design-build project delivery method. In fact, 28 projects valued at approximately $1 billion have become a reality since 1992 and all of the work was completed on schedule and within budget, or often below budget, using the design-build process.

Implementing New Tools for Process Change and Big Financial Rewards
The current system for building large-scale capital projects is woefully inefficient, rife with conflict between owners, designers, and contractors, and has a history of dissatisfied customers. The root problem is a wrong allocation of risk between owners, designers, and constructors.

Balancing Design and Construction Costs for Successful Project Delivery
It has become increasingly difficult to predict the construction cost of high-performance research facilities due to fluctuations in the marketplace dictated by factors that can be difficult to anticipate. Identifying the economic conditions that determine what a building will ultimately cost is challenging in a global economy where explosive facility construction in China can impact material costs in New England. Increased demand for advanced research facilities worldwide means it is more important than ever to understand the factors that impact construction cost.

New Priorities Make it Challenging to Balance Efficiency and Usefulness
The overwhelming influence of industry and research trends is apparent in the design and rising costs of new laboratory construction and renovation of existing facilities. Three of the most important trends that are profoundly shifting building design away from traditional planning are the changing role of support space and the subsequent expansion of core labs, greater adaptability of labs to meet the needs of changing scientific programs, and sustainable design and construction.

The International Building Code (IBC), developed in the late 1990s by the International Code Council (ICC) and updated on a three-year cycle, is the most widely adopted building code in the country. Codes provide protection from tragedy caused by fire, structural collapse, and general deterioration. The ICC states that model codes keep construction costs down by establishing uniformity in the construction industry.

Core Resources Influence Lab Planning and Design
During the last decade, one of the greatest changes related to lab planning and design is the increasingly prominent role played by core resources. This includes multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art research equipment such as atomic level resolution microscopes, high-field spectrometers, and nanotechnology fabrication equipment to name just a few examples. Specially-trained workers are then needed to run and interpret this sophisticated equipment, which is housed in core laboratories devoted specifically to these workers and tools.

Designing Workspaces for Future Generations and Mobile Workforce Minimizes Cost Outlay
Workplace changes can be compared to trends in fashion: much the same as hemlines rise and fall, as cars become larger, and then shrink as the price of gas sky-rockets, as technology grows more powerful and more portable, and as the furniture industry continuously develops new product. In a nutshell, a successful workplace supports the people and business goals of that particular organization rather than satisfying the latest trend in officing.

Companies Must Plan for Retirements Far in Advance
Wanted: Project manager for Library of Congress; responsible for one million sf, valued at $500,000, in new construction projects a year; competitive salary and benefits; must be able to juggle multiple projects with limited resources.

University of California, Davis
The new Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility at the University of California, Davis, is designed to promote collaborative, leading-edge research among scientists and engineers in genomics, bioinformatics, and other areas. The $95-million, 225,000-gsf building houses the UC Davis Genome Center, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and researchers from the School of Medicine including the entire department of pharmacology and toxicology.

University of Chicago
The Ellen and Melvin Gordon Center for Integrative Sciences (CIS) is the largest, most technologically advanced science building at the University of Chicago. The CIS is designed to enhance collaboration and ease interaction for 100 senior scientists and 700 additional researchers and students whose research will mostly occur at the nanoscale.

University of Missouri-Columbia
The Life Science Center (LSC) at the University of Missouri-Columbia is a 234,000-sf building designed to promote collaboration and facilitate teamwork. The $60-million facility brings together multiple academic divisions to research the supply and quality of food, the prevention and treatment of plant disease, and the protection and improvement of the environment.