Government

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Washburn University broke ground in April of 2014 on the $55 million KBI Forensic Science Center in Topeka. The three-story, 100,000-sf facility will house the state crime laboratory and space for the departments of chemistry, toxicology, biology, DNA, firearm/tool mark, trace evidence, latent prints, and digital forensics. Supporting Washburn University’s programs in forensic chemical science, criminal justice, and forensic anthropology, the building will include classrooms, labs, and offices.

The National Institutes of Health dedicated the John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center in late March of 2014 in Bethesda, Md. Comprised of two buildings connected by a glass atrium, the collaborative 500,000-sf facility provides open laboratories, offices, and an advanced MRI suite for researchers from 10 NIH neuroscience institutes and centers. Construction on the first building began in 2001 and was completed in 2004.

The Department of Energy will begin construction in April of 2014 on a $10 million research facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. The project will be designed and built by DGR Grant Construction in collaboration with Meier Architecture & Engineering. The 22,000-sf facility will provide labs, computational space, and offices to support research on power grid dynamics and renewable energy technologies, as well as housing PNNL's Building Operations Control Center and sustainability program.

Construction will begin in early 2014 on the $50 million Water Campus in Baton Rouge, La. The 30-acre development will provide research, engineering, and administrative facilities for government agencies, academic institutions, and industry partners. The first phase of construction will feature Louisianna State University's 50,000-sf River Modeling Center which will include a small scale representation of the lower Mississippi River.

The new Consolidated Forensic Laboratory (CFL) in the heart of Washington, D.C., not only merges the physical environs of three city public safety agencies—public health, the chief medical examiner, and the forensics labs—but also creates a new dynamic for interagency cooperation. Co-location in the 351,000-sf, six-story, state-of-the-art facility allows the city to upgrade all three agencies cost effectively while improving the science, efficiency, and integrity of the work performed there. The efficiency extends to the building systems, with the CFL achieving LEED Platinum.

The State of Washington’s Department of Enterprise Services (DES) has selected AssetWorks' AiM platform to serve as the statewide facilities inventory system. DES is expected to leverage AiM to capture, manage, and report on relevant facility inventory data for both owned and leased facilities. This data in turn is expected to be used by the state’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) to conduct in-depth analysis, long-term planning, and ongoing management of the state’s facilities portfolio.

Non-residential construction volumes and pricing continued their upward trend in the second quarter, with prices increasing an average of 2 to 4 percent in the first half of 2013. These factors, along with growing market confidence and a narrowing labor supply, will continue to push new construction costs closer to the trend line for the near to medium term.

The 351,0000-gsf Consolidated Forensic Laboratory (CFL) in the District of Columbia serves the Department of Forensic Services, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Department of Public Health. The building rises seven stories above ground; two below-grade levels contain evidence storage, vehicle exam, firing range/bullet recovery, lab/exam areas, BSL-3, autopsy, support lab areas, offices/conference space, and the parking garage.

The Department of Energy opened the $135 million Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in June of 2013. Located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., the 182,500-sf facility provides 15 labs and four outdoor test sites for electrical grid integration research. The center features a petascale supercomputer for advanced modeling and simulation as well as a hardware-in-the-loop system for product testing.

Continued signs of stable economic growth indicate that the recovery is gaining momentum in many parts of the United States and Canada. Construction selling prices for institutional projects grew at a 6 percent annualized rate in 2012, on top of a 3 percent increase in 2011. Construction costs are expected to continue stabilizing and rising in many regions as market confidence and capital spending increase.

The average lifespan of a building is 60 years, but the forces that drive the workplace may change as often as every six months. The challenge, whether for new construction or renovation, is to design a workplace that will adapt to a fluctuating timetable of changes in technology, business goals, and the workforce. The keys to success are a flexible workplace and a strong change management process.

The two-story, 93,455-sf Saint Louis County Health Campus replaces and consolidates two facilities: the old headquarters and the John C. Murphy Health Clinic, which was located on the site. The first floor houses the vital records office, as well as the Murphy Health Center. The clinic includes women's health, pediatrics, dental, WIC, nutrition, X-ray, and clinical labs. The modern, spacious facility also houses health education, with three community classrooms and a larger community room. The Chest Clinic has a separate entrance on the west side of the building.

Creating an "agile workplace"—by determining the overall business goals of an organization, making an in-depth appraisal of how employees work, and creating an efficient, cost-effective workspace that satisfies various work requirements—can save money in the long run by providing a satisfying workplace designed around employee's work activities.

Johnson County's new Criminalistics Laboratory houses distinct forensic science labs—biology/DNA, firearms/toolmarks, latent prints, controlled substance, trace analysis, digital/multimedia, and crime scene investigation. Additional space allows for expansion of computer forensics and instrumentation. Other amenities include: wireless capability, expanded crime scene processing and evidence handling areas, separate section evidence storage areas, and a large multipurpose training room.

NASA opened its $25 million, 50,000-sf office building in late spring of 2012 in Mountain View, Calif. The facility is expected to attain LEED Platinum sustainable design certification and features Bloom Energy fuel cells, ventilation pumps, photovoltaic panels, a water recovery system, and advanced building controls. The building provides collaborative open offices and is located at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The facility is reputedly the most environmentally advanced federal building in the nation.