Sustainability

An evidence-based approach to designing and analyzing research laboratories—one that focuses on practical and interrelated reductions in energy use—offers long-term cost benefits that trump popular but often-underperforming symbolic gestures. Traditional thinking suggests that sustainable construction of research labs, which are among the most energy-intensive facilities in the world, costs many times more than the non-green alternative. Not so, say the designers at Payette, a Boston architectural firm.

The University of California, San Diego dedicated the $113 million Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility in March of 2014 in La Jolla, Calif. Designed by ZGF Architects, the 196,000-sf building provides wet bench laboratories, open lab space, lab support, offices, conference rooms, and an interaction atrium. A basement level accommodates core labs and mechanical systems.

Weber State University will begin construction in June of 2014 on the 175,000-sf Tracy Hall Science Center in Ogden, Utah. Supported by $57.4 million in state funding and a $5 million philanthropic contribution, the facility will house all eight departments of the College of Science in a single location. The project design principles spell out the word ‘science’: sustainability, connectedness, inviting, engaging, nature, comfortable, and exploration.

The Sir Samuel Griffith Centre at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, is the embodiment of a living laboratory. The project, funded through the Australian government’s Education Investment Fund, delivers the world’s first large-scale, zero-emission research and teaching facility that utilizes solar power and energy storage as hydrogen.

Washington State University broke ground in March of 2014 on the $52.8 million PACCAR Clean Technology Laboratory Building in Pullman. Supporting research on advanced materials, renewable energy, atmospheric science, and hydrology, the 96,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will provide specialized core labs, common support areas, offices, faculty and student research space, and conference areas. The project team includes LMN Architects, general contractor Skanska, and laboratory design consultant Research Facilities Design.

Newcastle University is planning to build the $83 million Science Central development in Newcastle in the United Kingdom. Designed by Hawkins\Brown in partnership with BuroHappold and BD Landscapes, the 107,640-sf facility will act as a living laboratory for urban sustainable design. Occupancy is expected in September of 2017.

Swansea University broke ground in spring of 2014 on the $13 million Data Science Building. Located on the Singleton Park Campus, the collaborative, interdisciplinary project will be constructed adjacent to the Institute of Life Sciences facilities that are slated for occupancy in fall of 2015. The 31,000-sf Data Science @ ILS will house the Centre for the Improvement of Population Health through e-Records Research (CIPHER), the Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, and the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales (ADRC Wales).

The mission of the award-winning Campus for Research Excellence and Technology (CREATE) in Singapore is to stimulate innovation, discovery, and entrepreneurship through the interaction and collaboration of a broad spectrum of scientists and engineers representing world-class research universities, institutions, and corporations.

Interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) from around the world will be co-located for five years at a time, coalescing around five research themes:

The Public Health Agency of Canada opened the 60,000-sf JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Centre in February of 2014 in Winnipeg. Designed by Smith Carter, the facility provides advanced laboratories for infectious diseases research, diagnostic testing, and early stage vaccine development. Housing up to 200 employees, the Centre includes a training area for biocontainment laboratory operations. The facility will also support research on HIV/AIDS and antimicrobial resistant organisms.

The J. Craig Venter Institute completed construction in February of 2014 on its new $35 million genomic research facility in La Jolla, Calif. Designed by ZGF Architects to accommodate 125 scientists and staff, the 45,000-sf building includes a single-story, 12,605-sf lab wing and a three-story, 28,600-sf office wing.

Nova Southeastern University broke ground in February of 2014 on the 215,000-sf Center for Collaborative Research (CCR) in Davie, Fla. The $80 million multidisciplinary facility will house wet labs, an IBM supercomputer research suite, the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, the Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research, and the Emil Buehler Research Center for Engineering, Science, and Mathematics. The building will also accommodate the General Clinical Research Center, the NSU Technology Incubator, and space for the United States Geological Survey.

The University of Scranton is building a $47.5 million center for rehabilitation education in Scranton, Pa. Supporting an interprofessional medical education pedagogy, the 116,000-sf facility will provide classrooms, simulation training suites, faculty offices, and 25 laboratories for programs in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and exercise science. The center was designed by Hemmler + Camayd and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in association with HERA Laboratory Planners.

The Federation of Korean Industries opened its 50-story headquarters in Seoul in early 2014. The facility features an advanced solar electric façade and has received the highest sustainable design rating from the Korean Institute of Construction Technology. The spandrel panels in the exterior walls are angled at 30 degrees upward toward the sun, maximizing the amount of energy collected, while the vision panels are angled at 15 degrees downward toward the ground, minimizing the amount of direct sun radiation and glare.

Onset announced the release of a new high-performance data logger for building performance monitoring applications in January of 2014. The HOBO UX120-006M Analog Logger provides twice the accuracy of previous models, a deployment-friendly LCD, and support for up to four external sensors for measuring temperature, current, CO2, voltage, and more. This enables energy engineers, facility managers, and others to easily solve a range of building performance applications, including energy audits, building commissioning studies, and equipment scheduling optimization.

The University of Tennessee has begun renovating Sophronia Strong Hall to create an advanced science laboratory facility. The completed nine-story, 268,000-sf building will house the departments of anthropology and earth and planetary sciences, as well as providing instructional space and open, flexible labs for the departments of biology and chemistry. The $114 million project is expected to reach completion in early 2016. LEED Silver sustainable design will be sought for the renovated facility.