University Science & Engineering Facilities Sessions

Colleges and universities across the country are competing for STEM-focused students and faculty, and critical to these efforts are facilities meant to last the better part of a century and support cross-discipline convergence, experiential learning, collaboration, and project-based learning. In this session RFD presents emerging trends, planning solutions and benchmarking for recently completed and "on the boards" science and engineering facilities, and the key decisions that inform building systems that support the right amount of flexibility and adaptability. They outline what key decisions to make and pitfalls to avoid to best leverage complex systems inherent to laboratory focused facilities. 

What are the best physical infrastructure platforms to deliver 21st century STEM education and workforce-ready students?  In this session, Ballinger takes a deep dive into facilities at Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Johns Hopkins University, and Berea College to demonstrate the best-in-class solutions for delivering STEM education spaces that are flexible, cost-effective, and innovative. They illustrate spaces and features that support dynamic education including makerspace, active learning, class labs, STEM on display, faculty-student interaction, and soft-spaces for informal learning. They detail how to foster a sense of community in light of an increasingly transient faculty and student population. 

Clemson University’s new Advanced Materials Innovation Complex project faced unexpected budget and scope challenges that jeopardized Clemson’s target of doubling research capacity by 2023, and this session highlights the innovative solutions that got things back on track. Presenters illustrate a collaborative, transparent project foundation which engaged the university, design and construction team, and users, to uncover unexpected savings, deliver on research space needs, and maintain collaborative spaces while delivering a sustainable and adaptable building. They examine faculty office size reductions and research space allocation/utilization strategies, and the feasibility/budget alignment improvements to avoid similar hurdles in the future.

The Quantum Sciences are driving the future of instrumentation, physics, and materials science, and new physical space requirements for quantum research are coming to your institution – so get ready. Session leaders take a deep dive into the new Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement at Caltech that unites researchers from diverse disciplines, creates state-of-the-art research spaces, and educates the next generation of quantum science leaders. They share the iterative design process that was both informed and inspired by the theoretical and experimental scientists and identify key design requirements for rapidly evolving scientific fields that predict spatial, environment, and infrastructure needs. 

The need for laboratory facilities that support highly specialized processes and equipment continues to be prevalent across all research disciplines and areas of focus. Research organizations are also challenged to accommodate these specialized uses within existing buildings that are ill-equipped to deliver the myriad space and technical needs associated with scientific core facilities. In this session, presenters focus on research program drivers and support for specialized biomedical labs, lasers/optics/imaging, neuro and behavioral labs, and equipment/process-driven engineering labs. They deliver a methodology and tools for assessing candidate lab locations, optimizing budget and schedules, and delivering competitive work environments.

Building and fire codes are evolving with recent editions of the International Building and Fire Codes adding "Higher Education Lab Suites" as a new option. In this session, leaders demonstrate how Lab Suites offer a solution to resolve chemical Maximum Allowable Quantity (MAQ) compliance issues, while transforming research labs into flexible, interactive spaces. They compare Control Areas with Lab Suites and highlight the main differences including allowed chemical storage and use quantities, fire separations, liquid tight floors, sprinkler hazard levels and basis of design, and implications for lab exhaust and standby generator capacity. They describe the benefits of Lab Suites for supporting programmatic and design goals.

Significant hurdles are impeding universities in the quest to decarbonize their lab buildings: Safety, cost, timelines, and the scale the energy transition requires. In this case study, Walt King compares legacy project processes to the new processes required for complex retrofit projects in critical science, engineering, and research environments. He demonstrates how a successful decarbonization project must go beyond just new technology to combine innovative funding, leveraging of rebate incentives, and carbon penalty avoidance with best-in-class technology for maximized efficiency gains. In addition, Walt demonstrates how institutional culture influences this new method and the outcomes that can be expected. 

Academic leadership is taking a long hard look at what drives the decisions of stakeholders beyond just the paycheck or the degree. How do faculty, student, and industry experiences in your facility factor into the bigger picture of program success, satisfaction, retention, and engagement? John Roberson challenges session participants to consider “What story is your facility telling the people who are pivotal to your high-priority initiatives?” They guide the group through a step-by-step experience design exercise on how to communicate key values in your space in a way that moves your donors, students, and faculty and that evokes them to action, creating an emotional connection with your institution.

Retrofitting outdated non-science buildings for modern lab use has space-saving advantages, but the challenges lie in meeting energy efficiency goals and accommodating modern equipment and research processes. Chris Leary and Kenneth Williams present case studies of two MIT conversions in Kendall Square Cambridge -- often cited as the most innovative square mile on earth -- to demonstrate the successful outcomes of vibrant, modern lab environments within outdated, restrictive structures. They detail designs, features, and adjacencies, and compare the embodied carbon preserved by a building renovation compared to the carbon emitted by the building during operations. 

Universities worldwide have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner -- a goal presenting a particular challenge to research-based institutions with massive, high-energy intensive laboratory spaces growing exponentially. Jim Neff and Quindi Guiseppe present a successful campus central energy plant decarbonization project to illustrate new solutions for this challenge including harnessing the sun and implementing multiple new technologies and tools to offset heating loads and eliminate gas from the central plant. They demonstrate a process of systems master planning, assessment, and maximization of ROI in terms of dollars and CO2, and reveal lessons learned. 

Higher education institutions are being challenged to upgrade older facilities to meet the demands of modern science: New pedagogies, flexibility features, research tools, and technologies. Using real-world examples, Joe Walker presents new agile design solutions tailored for the renovation and modernization of outdated higher education spaces. He breaks down the process of transforming classrooms, labs, and project spaces into vibrant, future-proofed environments that prioritize the needs of students and faculty. He demonstrates the merit of an inclusive design process, where every stakeholder's voice is accounted for, ensuring successful outcomes that resonate with end-users. 

With computing and data science disciplines growing and evolving so rapidly, how should new facilities be planned to ensure productivity and relevance long into the future? This session examines how MIT answered that question through the creation of the Schwarzman College of Computing. Presenters walk through the visioning, programming, and design decisions that have created catalyst and connector spaces, enabled collaboration across disciplines, and are now drive socially responsible and ethical approaches to computing. They provide valuable insights on forecasting space needs before faculty exist, crafting an inclusive vision for the future of computer science, building on a crossroads site, and creating inspiring and flexible teaching and discovery environments.

Next-generation university research and education facilities are leveraging new components to go beyond convergence, and this session provides an overview of trends driving the design of tomorrow’s transdisciplinary facilities. Session leaders use a Dartmouth case study to examine the adaptability features necessary to anticipate fast-moving science and unknown futures (including AI), and the advantages for faculty and student recruitment in a very competitive environment. They provide space allocation metrics and rationales for cross-disciplinary exploration, entrepreneurship, design thinking, shared core facilities, and project-based education, and they highlight solutions for reducing environmental impact in high-performance buildings.

The Center for Computing & Data Sciences is Boston University’s most sustainable and energy-efficient building to date and boasts a distinctive offset design to foster collaboration and interaction vertically between interdisciplinary research neighborhoods. Session leaders detail the architecture and mechanical systems of this all-electric building, the façade, MEP, and structural solutions that reduced both cost and embodied carbon. They highlight operating considerations to be aware of and illustrate the positive impacts on BU’s Climate Action Plan and resiliency targets.