Operating Cost

The University of Toronto will begin construction in summer of 2020 on the 265,000-sf Passive House Student Residence on the Scarborough campus. The 746-bed development will accommodate three distinct residential communities, with private study spaces, gathering areas, and kitchen facilities in each cluster. A high-performance building envelope with a vertically patterned aluminum cladding system will frame strategically sized windows, maximizing access to natural light while minimizing heat loss.

Siemens is offering a three-part webinar series: "Winning Projects Requiring Complex Building Technologies." Join David Weaver, Director of Smart Infrastructure at Siemens, for one, two, or all three half-hour sessions to learn how you can meet your clients' expectations and win new projects that require ever more complex and far-reaching technologies. Leveraging these innovative solutions can create the ideal user experience and enhance your reputation as a smart building contractor. Registration includes access to all three events. 

Siemens is teaming up with industry experts from EPLAN, WSCAD, and UL for the Control Panel Online Symposium on April 29, 2019. Industry experts will delve into the latest control panel standards, provide strategies for more efficient control panel designs, and offer tools for the improvement of engineering efficiency. Attendees can join online seminars, visit the virtual fair booths, and chat live with the industry experts.

For more information, visit Siemens.

FM:Systems is offering a webcast on the use of digital solutions to enhance productivity on May 14, 2020. If you would like to build a smarter workplace, optimize space utilization, and enhance employee experience, FM Systems’ strategies will enable you to leverage connected devices and applications to deliver the flexibility that your staff require. By the end of 2020, mobile workers will account for 75 percent of the total workforce.

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory has attained BREEAM Outstanding certification. The 24,350-sf research, education, and administration facility is the first project in the United States to be awarded the rating, and is the first in the world to meet four other sustainability standards, including The Living Building Challenge, WELL Building Platinum, SITES Platinum, and LEED Platinum.

Beloit College dedicated the Powerhouse in February of 2020 in Beloit, Wis. Designed by Studio Gang, the $38 million project included the redevelopment of a decommissioned power plant to create a unique campus hub housing a recreation center, a student union, and an athletics facility. The 120,000-sf riverside complex offers a 160-seat auditorium, meeting and seminar rooms, informal gathering spaces, a swimming pool, a 10,000-sf fitness center, a 17,000-sf recreational gym, a 200-person event space, an elevated indoor track, and a café.

Georgia Institute of Technology dedicated the $30 million Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design in October of 2019 in Atlanta. Designed by Lord Aeck Sargent & The Miller Hull Partnership, the 47,000-sf facility provides two 64-person classrooms, a maker space, four class labs, a conference room, offices, and a 176-person auditorium.

Yale University opened the $283 million Yale Science Building in October of 2019 in New Haven, Conn. Housing the entire Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology department, the 280,300-sf multidisciplinary facility also accommodates part of the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry department, as well as supporting faculty from physics and chemistry. The collaborative seven-level structure, which includes two floors below grade, features flexible labs that integrate both research and teaching functions in the same space.

Katerra is constructing the $40 million Catalyst Building in Spokane, Wash. The five-story, 150,000-sf facility will accommodate leased space for Eastern Washington University's programs in computer science, electrical engineering, and visual communication design. Comprising two wings connected by a light-filled atrium, the collaborative $40 million building will provide dry labs, offices, classrooms, and study spaces.

Amgen broke ground in late July of 2019 on a $200 million biomanufacturing center in West Greenwich, R.I. Featuring a highly flexible, modular design, the next-generation facility will leverage advanced technologies to reduce operational expenses, consume 80 percent less energy and water, and achieve a 75 percent decrease in carbon emissions.

The Passive House building standard is considered the most rigorous, voluntary energy-based design and construction standard in the industry. Consuming 40 to 90 percent less energy than conventional buildings for heating and cooling, Passive House traditionally has been used in single-family homes, commercial buildings, schools, and office buildings, but the standard is making new strides toward application in energy-intensive laboratory buildings as well. While achieving true Passive House-level performance in a large-scale lab facility is still a far distant (if possible) goal, many of the standard’s fundamental design approaches can be used to significantly reduce energy consumption while improving occupant comfort and air quality.

Exponential growth in the use and development of genetically engineered rodent models during the last several decades has resulted in researchers at many institutions requiring ever-increasing amounts of vivarium space. However, new technologies will drive different design considerations and space planning in future rodent facilities, says Neil S. Lipman, professor and executive director of the Center of Comparative Medicine and Pathology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine.

WuXi Biologics began construction in May of 2019 on a $365 million pharmaceutical production facility in Dundalk, Ireland. Sited on 52 acres, the 522,000-sf contract manufacturing center will utilize single-use technologies and processes, enabling cost-effective scale-out and the simultaneous production of multiple batches of varying volumes. Commercial operations are expected to begin in 2022 at the site, which will be the company's first manufacturing plant outside of China.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office announced up to $33.5 million in funding in May of 2019 for early-stage research and development of advanced building construction techniques to reduce energy costs. The Advanced Building Construction with Energy-Efficient Technologies & Practices (ABC) initiative aims to develop deep energy retrofit and new construction technologies that holistically tackle a combination of envelope, heating, cooling, water heating, and ventilation issues.

Novo Nordisk's global production will be entirely powered by renewable energy by early 2020, with a ten-year goal of achieving zero carbon emissions from operations and transportation. The pharmaceutical company has made a $70 million investment in a 105-megawatt-dc solar energy installation to be built in Pender County, North Carolina.