Charles J. Crews and Edward E. Gaunt recently developed a matrix of changes between Section IV of the current and former editions of Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), focusing on biosafety levels two, three, and four (BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4). Citations containing multiple statements were subdivided into individually addressable statements and statements with similar/identical scope were aligned, allowing for a precise comparative analysis.

Every academic medical center (AMC) master plan is at some level an incremental campus replacement plan. Indeed, building replacement constitutes the majority of built space needs in many AMC master plans--even in an environment of aggressive service growth. Efficient operations and convenient patient access is often jeopardized by decades of reactive, organic, and, at times, unrestrained facilities growth, feeding a perception that a medical center campus cannot support high-traffic ambulatory services--although this is not always in an AMC's best strategic interest.

New IWMS Provides Comprehensive Automation, Integration, and Innovation
The Government of Alberta's Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry is using a new software program to help implement a comprehensive integrated Building and Land Information Management System (BLIMS) throughout the Province.

University Cleverly Carves Out 70,000 sf for the Center for Genomics & Systems Biology
Turn-of-the-century brick buildings in historic Greenwich Village might make a condo developer salivate, but they are not ideal for cutting-edge scientific research. The ceilings are too low, the rooms too small, and the mechanical systems leave much to be desired. If you work for New York University (NYU), however, that is what's available in your neighborhood. Architects working with NYU have devised creative ways to transform three adjacent buildings into a single home for the new Center for Genomics & Systems Biology. By working with city officials and within strict zoning regulations, NYU was able to transform an existing area of 43,000 sf into 70,000 sf of offices and open labs that enable interaction between theorists and experimentalists, all on a 7,500-sf lot.

Efficient Space Conversion Required to Attract and Retain Top Researchers
The successful recruitment and retention of high-profile researchers may hinge upon the ability of a university to quickly provide the necessary space to meet specific requirements and stringent standards. This often means renovating existing space to suit the explicit needs of a particular researcher.

Facilities Must Join Traditionally Disparate Factions
Imagine for a moment that your mother becomes ill. You take her to the hospital, where she is admitted, and then goes through a series of tests. She is moved four times during her stay and she acquires an infection while she is there. Her nurses are overworked and have to walk great distances from room to room to room, spending as much time walking as with patients. Communication breaks down between doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, and you feel as if you are responsible for keeping the varied medical professionals up to speed on her condition.

SEED Concept Underscores Relationship Between Space and Interaction
An innovative approach to leveraging spatial dynamics' influence on interaction debunks the notion that interdisciplinary collaboration is fostered by simply having a common coffee station or open laboratories in a research facility.

A $150-million facility intended to serve as a shared hub for two research institutes in Madison, Wis., one private and one public, will debut a pioneering planning approach called Socially Ergonomic Environmental Design (SEED). Groundbreaking will be held in May for the 300,000-sf pair of research institutes, where the public side will be known as the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (WID) and the private side will be called the Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR).

Interaction, Collaboration, and Support Spaces Crucial
In less than 10 years, academic research labs have evolved to better promote interdisciplinary research and interaction among students and faculty, and to rely so heavily on sophisticated, analytical equipment, specialized core facilities, and computational science that the distinction between "lab space" and "support space" is disappearing. Architects at CO Architects in Los Angeles have been designing these kinds of facilities for 20 years, bearing witness to the sea change in owner and user expectations.

Integrated Planning Enables Good Decision-Making in University Science Buildings
Two recently completed projects demonstrate the importance of bringing a holistic approach to the planning and design of academic research facilities. The addition and renovation for the College of Engineering at University of Missouri-Columbia, and an addition and renovation for the Science Building at South Dakota State University, both benefited significantly from integrated processes for facility programming and design developed by The Clark Enersen Partners of Kansas City, Mo.