Sessions

The most unlikely existing spaces can become high-performing research environments when project drivers, existing conditions, and program priorities are aligned – what untapped value exists in your current portfolio? Presenters use multiple repurposing case studies to illustrate how vibration control, environmental stability, and phasing shape what is possible inside aging shells. They demonstrate how to perform rigorous evaluations including 3D scanning, condition assessment, and separating key requirements from "nice-to-have" to create a definitive programming strategy. They progress through construction-phase strategies for renovating older buildings without reliable as-builts: tactics for managing unforeseen conditions, controlling cost and schedule risk, and minimizing disruption inside occupied buildings throughout phased lab transformations and reactivation. 

Don’t settle for “quick fix” renovations that can limit long-term performance; relatively small, well-considered moves can transform a project from basic accommodation into a cohesive, forward-looking environment. Presenters use a series of STEM renovation case studies, including Brown University, to demonstrate the decision-making criteria that reconcile program, circulation, and identity to turn constrained existing buildings into cohesive, high-performing academic environments. They illustrate the results including modernized laboratories, spatial relationships fostering student collaboration, intuitive wayfinding that contribute to improved user experience, and facilities well-positioned to evolve as needs change.

As institutions weigh renovation against new construction, strategic reinvestment in aging facilities offers a more sustainable, cost-effective, and faster path forward — especially on historic campuses where preserving building stock is an institutional priority. Presenters draw on six renovation projects including from Boston University and Bowdoin College to examine how requirements are reshaping facility investment decisions. They share frameworks for evaluating renovation versus replacement, describe technical, logistical, and financial strategies for extending the life of spaces, and outline how targeted upgrades support faculty recruitment. They deliver key investment criteria and decision rationales for other institutions managing aging portfolios.

This case study is a deep dive into how interdisciplinary collaboration from the start resulted in dramatic energy and carbon reductions for an existing brutalist classroom building with historic designation. Presenters relate how the project team solved the challenge of delivering high-performance outcomes within the limited budget of a public project while maintaining the integrity of the architectural expression. They detail the iterative analysis that set up a former energy hog classroom building at UMass Dartmouth to achieve a significant 68% reduction in energy use intensity from 133 kBTU/sf/year to the predicted 40 kBTU/sf/year, and carbon savings of 63% with a customized bundle of strategies.

When a facility cannot go offline, renovation demands more than good design—it demands a delivery model built for sustained complexity. An occupied renovation spanning more than a decade, including high-containment laboratory environments, puts that model on full display. Speakers representing owner, user agency, designer, and construction manager walk through design strategies for a severely constrained facility, complex phasing and logistics, evolving project management approaches, and the communication and trust-building that kept the project moving through a global pandemic and beyond. They provide lessons learned on design flexibility, GMP development, project evolution, and management strategies required to address extensive unforeseen conditions.

Most research universities carry an inventory of aging, mission-critical science and engineering buildings that no longer serve evolving programs and that hide big deferred maintenance liabilities. Drawing on precinct plans and renewal strategies developed for leading institutions, presenters synthesize the patterns that consistently drive successful outcomes. They deliver a streamlined, repeatable framework for assessing building viability—comparing reinvestment versus replacement, creating defensible cases for full rebuild, and aligning scope, cost, and phasing with long-term research goals. They provide a proven toolkit for creating condition assessments, decision matrices, and constrained-environment funding strategies. 

A flat, gray, unglamorous expense at the top of the building usually sits at the bottom of every capital priority list—until water finds the lobby or lab renovation below it. Don’t let that happen to your organization! A well-timed roof replacement is a force multiplier; a deferred one is a ticking clock on every downstream investment. In this session, presenters translate building science into business case: red flags that signal a roof is approaching end-of-life, financial and operational arguments that win against competing capital priorities, principles of moisture management, thermal performance and material compatibility that define "doing it right," and sequencing strategies that align roofing with broader campus capital plans.