Sessions

Research institutions face mounting pressure to attract leading scientists and students while managing constrained budgets and aging facilities. This presentation demonstrates how strategic master planning transforms legacy laboratory buildings into competitive research environments that appeal to today's talent and deliver key capabilities. Presenters reveal assessment methodologies that identify infrastructure capacity, spatial inefficiencies, and architectural opportunities within existing assets. They share benchmarking metrics that quantify underutilized square footage and align facility capabilities with recruitment priorities. Through data-driven case studies, they illustrate renovation feasibility approaches that extend building lifecycles while delivering flexible, modern research spaces. They outline practical frameworks for optimizing current resources, mitigating capital risk, and positioning institutions competitively in the talent marketplace—all before considering costly new construction.

As government research funding plateaus and competition intensifies, this session reveals how institutions are forging strategic industry-academia partnerships to sustain research excellence. Presenters demonstrate proven models that integrate private capital into public university infrastructure, creating shared laboratory environments where faculty expertise, student innovation, and industry objectives converge. They profile how three institutions successfully combined disparate funding sources on capital projects while maintaining academic integrity. They analyze operational frameworks that enable rapid pivoting toward industry-driven research priorities and examine spatial designs where personnel, equipment, and intellectual property from multiple organizations coexist productively. They set out strategies for balancing student educational outcomes with corporate deliverables, and provide actionable blueprints for launching similar collaborative research facilities that satisfy stakeholder requirements across sectors.

Blair Tennant and Melissa Chabot analyze tariff volatility, Federal Reserve monetary policy, and construction volume trends to deliver actionable cost escalation predictions for 2026 and beyond. They examine macroeconomic leading indicators—equities, GDP, job creation—alongside major commodity trajectories (oil, lumber, copper, steel) to reveal micro and macro drivers affecting research facility renovation and construction budgets. They present Vermeulens' latest construction labor weather map, forecasting regional cost trends and demonstrating its application for location-specific planning. They provide implementation frameworks for integrating annual escalation predictions into project cost planning and establishes risk reduction strategies for design, escalation, bidding, and construction contingencies. They deliver practical tools for controlling construction costs amid economic uncertainty, equipping planners with scenario-based forecasts and pricing structures that account for evolving trade policy and labor productivity shifts.

Rising construction costs and accelerating research demands are forcing facility planners to make every dollar count—the first time. This session reveals how commissioning expertise transforms costly system failures into preventable design decisions. Presenters illustrate how to embed operational intelligence into Owner's Project Requirements (OPR) to create research environments engineered for decades of reliable performance, not just day-one compliance. They profile proven strategies for flexible utilities, failure-resistant infrastructure, and operational teams trained to sustain your investment. They deliver a planning framework that answers what today's stakeholders demand: reduced lifecycle costs, minimized downtime, adaptive capacity for evolving science, and facilities that protect an institution's competitive edge through built-in resilience and long-term operational stewardship.

This case study from USC Viterbi demonstrates the impact of digital storytelling technology in flexible, scalable research facilities to support interdisciplinary collaboration while honoring donor vision and institutional mission. Grace Johnson and John Roberson explore decision-making criteria for renovation, repurposing, or new construction in STEM environments and reveal what works—and what doesn't— to build a collaborative mindset in mixed-discipline spaces. They illustrate the embedding of digital solutions to enhance facility identity through integrated technology layers, unlock adaptability for evolving programs, and maximize engagement. They deliver actionable methods for deploying digital experience platforms that embed donor recognition, future-proof research environments, and create spaces resonating deeply with academic communities.

Fluorescent-to-LED conversions present critical decision points for research facility infrastructure. This session delivers actionable intelligence on lighting technology differences and defines emerging metrics—Melanopic Equivalent Daylight Illuminance, Color Fidelity, and Color Gamut—with direct laboratory applications. Karen Murphy and John Hasnau demonstrate how lighting impacts physiological and behavioral research outcomes, review current regulatory requirements for building lighting, and present exclusive findings from an AALAS facility conversion survey. They equip design and facilities teams with evidence-based strategies to maximize LED benefits while avoiding costly pitfalls. They outline specific protocols for evaluating lighting systems against research integrity standards and operational requirements, ensuring facility investments support both occupant welfare and scientific validity.

Research facility planners confront escalating pressures: constrained campus footprints, prohibitive construction timelines, and urgent demands for operational research space that cannot wait years for traditional builds. This presentation charts how MD Anderson Cancer Research Center defied conventional swing space limitations through strategic modular construction, delivering an 8,855-square-foot, two-story vivarium complex engineered for 30-year permanence rather than temporary accommodation. Presenters demonstrate decision-making frameworks for vertical modular expansion when horizontal growth proves impossible, addressing critical considerations including animal welfare optimization, equipment integration challenges, and long-term facility scaling strategies. They illustrate how modular construction transforms space management crises into opportunities for flexible, centralized laboratory infrastructure that meets both immediate capacity needs and future institutional growth trajectories.