Michigan State University broke ground in June of 2013 on the $60.8 million Bio Engineering Facility in East Lansing. The 130,000-sf interdisciplinary building will provide modular open-plan laboratories and offices for faculty from the colleges of Engineering, Human Medicine, and Natural Science.
Renovating facilities using sustainable design can be an economically feasible means of making older buildings relevant again. Elements such as passive ventilation and natural lighting reduce utility bills by more than 75 percent and increase the appraised property value, with the potential to achieve net-zero energy consumption and a 10-year return on investment.
Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis is planning to break ground on a $75 million research building in summer of 2013. The 138,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will provide flexible, open labs for the Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology and the departments of medicine, genetics, and developmental biology. The design team includes Goody Clancy of Boston in association with Christner of St. Louis. Clayco is the general contractor. Completion is expected in June of 2015.
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.
Emory University began occupying the $90 million Health Sciences Research Building in Atlanta in June of 2013. Designed by ZGF Architects and built by Brasfield & Gorrie, the 200,000-sf facility provides open labs for research on immunology and vaccines, neurosciences, drug discovery, pediatric health, cancer, gastroenterology, biomedical engineering, and human genetics.
Cage and rack washers, while not the industry standard for large-scale animal cage washing, are more efficient and cost-effective to operate than tunnel washers, according to a study by two Boston architects with decades of experience designing animal facilities. Their research shows that the long-term operating savings compensates for the higher up-front cost.
Ericsson is planning to build a $1.3 billion R&D center in Montreal. Located in the suburb of Vaudreuil-Dorion, the 430,560-sf engineering facility will support product development and testing as well as housing Ericsson’s internal IT infrastructure. Occupancy is expected in 2015. Ericsson is a global manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and networks based in Sweden.
The University at Albany opened a $9.4 million biomedical laboratory in June of 2013. Accommodating 60 researchers, the collaborative 15,000-sf facility provides five 1,000-sf labs, advanced imaging equipment, and glass-walled offices for the RNA Institute. The project was built by AOW Associates with fully mobile lab benches for ease of reconfiguration. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which features a heat recovery system, sophisticated building controls, and abundant natural light.
The University of East Anglia will break ground in June of 2013 on the $12.2 million Norwich Research Park Enterprise Centre in the United Kingdom. Designed by Architype, the high-performance facility is expected to attain the highest BREEAM and Passivhaus energy ratings and will feature an advanced HVAC system, triple-glazed windows, and ultra-low embodied carbon.
The University of British Columbia is partnering with Cisco Systems to develop advanced energy management technologies. The project includes the use of the UBC campus as a living laboratory to create new industry benchmarks for sustainable operations. Cisco will invest up to $1 million over five years to develop an integrated campus-wide energy management network and new automation technologies.
New analytical planning tools and HVAC technologies can dramatically ease the transformation of existing academic buildings into high-performance state-of-the-art science labs. Along with advances in quantitative methods to assess the potential of existing space, innovations in HVAC strategy offer compact and energy-efficient solutions that are well suited to campus structures erected for different purposes decades ago.
