The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) approved a healthy buildings resolution in June of 2020. "Advancing Healthy Buildings in the Fight Against COVID-19" will support the implementation of integrated solutions for the design and operation of public facilities.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority opened the 47,360-sf Research and Development Centre in March of 2020. Located at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates, the four-story facility offers laboratories for the development of leading-edge technologies for solar power, smart grid integration, energy efficiency, and water management systems. Accelerating the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the center will enable the creation of innovative 3D printing and additive manufacturing modalities.
The Center for Active Design will release Fitwel v2.1 in June of 2019. Promoting the creation of facilities that optimize health, Fitwel was developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the Center for Active Design acting as its licensed operator. The updated version of Fitwel includes a new construction pathway for pre-occupancy and post-occupancy projects and now provides both a Design Certification and a Built Certification. Existing facilities will continue to be eligible for certification in the Built category.
Gwinnett County broke ground in October of 2018 on the $60 million Water Innovation Center in Buford, Ga. The 60,000-sf facility will provide wet and dry laboratories, a three-story demonstration bay, conference rooms, classrooms, a business incubator, and a 250-seat auditorium. Completion is expected in 2021. The project is expected to anchor a 700-acre campus offering research, educational, and commercial space.
Harvard University's Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) has created the Healthy Buildings Program to study the effects of the built environment on health, productivity, and wellbeing. The nine foundations of a healthy building can optimize occupant health, preferably in a smoke-free environment with active design to promote movement.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories began construction in February of 2018 on three new facilities in Chalk River, Ontario. Representing an investment of over CAD$100 million, the project includes:
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is planning to construct the $136 million Research & Development Center at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. The four-building facility will be constructed using 3D printing and will support the creation of drones and 3D printing technologies for applications including solar power, energy efficiency, smart grids, and photovoltaic desalination.
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.
Qatar Cool, the district cooling authority for the Pearl Island of Qatar in the Arabian Gulf, has contracted Johnson Controls to provide 46 water-cooled chiller units with an option to purchase six additional units. The order is the largest in Johnson Control’s history. The YORK centrifugal chillers, each weighing 2,500 tons, will supply 130,000 tons of chilled water daily to cool over 15,000 residential and commercial units on the 985-acre manmade island.
The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) has selected Skanska USA Building in partnership with JCB Construction as construction managers of the new 127,000 OUC Headquarters Building. The $40 million project is scheduled to reach completion in September 2008. Hunton Brady and Baker Barrios are the project architects. The new facility is being developed as an energy-conscious, LEED-accredited facility that will replace the existing 40-year-old facility.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is planning to develop a $128-million sustainably designed headquarters facility in an existing office building in San Francisco’s Civic Center. The project will generate 100 percent of its own energy at off-peak hours and 40 percent at peak usage times. Each year, 214,000 watts will be produced by approximately 6,500 sf of photovoltaic cells, surpassing any comparable facility in the nation. The building will also include a wastewater recycling plant.
Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) has created the Eager Biomass Project, a new power plant in eastern Arizona that will run on wood chips produced from forested trees. Producing enough electricity for 3,000 homes and businesses, APS will get green credits to apply to the Arizona Environmental Portfolio Standard which will require APS to generate 1.1 percent of its power through renewable resources by 2007. The biomass technology employed by the Eager, Ariz., plant converts vegetation waste such as forest and agricultural byproducts into clean fuel to power generators.
Silicon Valley Power recently broke ground on the $165-million Von Raesfeld power plant sited on 2.86 acres in Santa Clara, Calif. Locally owned and operated, the 147-megawatt gas-fired plant is expected to reach completion in late 2004.
Washington Gas, a natural gas utility, began renovating its 500,000-sf Springfield Operations Center in October 2002. The project, designed by architectural firm McKissack & McKissack of Washington, D.C., will be the first renovation performed on the 1971 light industrial building since its construction. The renovation is expected to reach completion in three to five years. Washington Gas is also seeking to relocate its headquarters to a new 80,000- to 90,000-sf site in the greater Washington area.
The Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative Inc. (GVEC) is building a Lineman's Training Facility on 11 acres of company-owned land in Gonzales. The Texas Electric Cooperatives, an Austin trade association, has partnered with GVEC to share building costs. The facility, slated for completion in August, is GVEC's third Texas site where journeyman linemen can benefit from educational programs and safety training. The first training facility opened in Levelland in 2001; GVEC is now building a Northeast Texas training facility in Henderson.
