The U.S. Mission to the United Nations completed construction and installation of an innovative chiller system based on magnetic levitation technology in April of 2009. Designed to cut costs and reduce carbon emissions, the MagLev™ chiller runs on a virtually friction-free compressor which eliminates heat and reduces energy consumption. The chiller was designed and manufactured by Multistack and installed by Martinez International.
The General Services Administration is planning to consolidate the Department of Homeland Security on the site of the historic St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. The $3.4 billion, 4.5 million-sf project will be the largest public works project since the construction of the Pentagon. The Department of Homeland Security will relocate 14,000 of its 26,000 employees in the region (currently housed in 70 buildings in 40 separate locations) to the new campus by 2016.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory will break ground in late spring of 2009 on a chemical and materials sciences research building in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Supported by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 160,000-sf facility will house 200 researchers engaged in the creation of solar batteries, corrosion resistant materials, and superconducting transmission lines. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. Completion is slated for 2011.
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will begin construction in spring of 2009 on a $310 million upgrade of its Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) in Newport News, Va. The nuclear physics research project will include construction of a fourth experimental hall and a 250-foot extension of the lab's underground accelerator tunnel. Completion is expected in 2015.
The Integrated Emergency Operations Center opened at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., in March of 2009. Consolidating emergency operations for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency and the Washington Headquarters Service, the facility will support improved joint decision making for emergency preparedness. Battelle provided design and construction services for the project.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Novartis a $486 million contract in early 2009 to build pandemic flu vaccine manufacturing facilities in Holly Springs, N.C. The funding will support the design, construction, and validation of flu vaccine production centers over the next eight years, enabling Novartis to supply 150 million doses of cell-based influenza vaccine within six months of the onset of a pandemic.
Funding from the proposed $900 billion economic stimulus package, which may be approved in February of 2009, will be awarded to “shovel-ready” construction projects. Municipal and educational institutions will compete for the funding, which would be available for projects with plans and contracts in place that can begin construction within 18 months.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began construction on a 120,000-sf laboratory in Boulder, Colo., in early February of 2009. Providing 58,000 net assignable square feet laboratory space, the facility represents an expansion of NIST’s existing Boulder campus and will support research in areas including precision measurement, nanotechnology, biochemical sensors, and quantum computing. The project architect is HDR with PCL Construction as general contractor. Completion is expected in 2012.
The Department of Energy has approved the construction of the $912 million National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Construction will begin in 2009 and reach completion in 2015. The facility will be a medium-energy storage ring delivering leading-edge brightness and flux and exceptional beam stability. The project will support multidisciplinary research in advanced materials, nanotechnology, condensed matter, materials physics, chemistry, and biology.
The Department of Homeland Security has selected Manhattan, Kansas, as the site for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Located at Kansas State University (KSU), the $650 million, 500,000-sf laboratory will accommodate research on zoonotic and foreign animal diseases. The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility will be comprised of two laboratory buildings and four outbuildings. The main lab will provide BSL-2, BSL-3, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-4 space with the second lab building housing small-scale vaccine and reagent production.
The Food and Drug Administration dedicated the renovated Building One at the White Oak Federal Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., in December of 2008. Building One is the seventh White Oak structure completed as part of the FDA's consolidation project on the campus. The General Services Administration oversaw the renovation of the historic 102,000-sf, four-story facility that was originally the headquarters of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
Sandia National Laboratories broke ground on the $39.6 million Ion Beam Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., in December of 2008. The 27,000-sf facility will enable simulation of the large neutron fluxes created in nuclear explosions. Completion is expected in 2009 with research operations commencing in 2010.
Natural Resources Canada broke ground on the new CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory in Hamilton, Ontario, in December of 2008. Located in the McMaster Innovation Park, the LEED-certified facility will accommodate research and development in structural metals and alloys, materials design, pilot-scale processing, and performance evaluation. CANMET-MTL is a Government of Canada laboratory previously located in Ottawa. The new facility, created in partnership with McMaster University, will open in 2010.
Jackson State University opened the Center for the Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management in November of 2008. Located in Jackson, Miss., the facility will enable the Department of Homeland Security to research solutions for protecting at-risk infrastructure, improving communication, and enhancing recovery efforts in response to natural disasters.
The Department of Energy is constructing the $224 million Physical Sciences Facility for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. The three-building, 200,000-sf project includes facilities for radiation detection, materials science and technology, and nuclear and chemical weapons compliance testing. Ground was broken on the project in August of 2007 with construction commencing in August of 2008. Completion is expected in 2010.
