Energy Efficient Laboratories

The 2017 I2SL Conference is just around the corner! The annual conference is the leading international conference focused on strategies to meet the challenges of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in laboratories and related facilities. The conference is a technical forum where information is exchanged covering the life cycle of the laboratory from design to use. This year the event will be held October 15-18 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

As we get ready for the conference, we wanted to share some of our favorite energy efficient laboratories and facilities. What buildings would you add to the list?

Diana Tsang’s Picks:

MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex

Photo Credit: Andy Ryan and courtesy Turner Construction

Designed by Charles Correa and Goody Clancy and completed in 2005, the MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex is the first LEED Silver certified building on the campus. It pioneered a lot of the green features that have now became standard in complex lab buildings. I admire its elegant response to a challenging urban setting in its calm timeless stone cladded skin with large windows and a well-lit atrium, in contrast to its more famous neighbor the Stata center by Frank Gehry. Plus, who doesn’t love seeing an active train line going through a 400,000 SF high tech building?

Harvard Naito Chemistry and Bauer Life Science Buildings

Photo Credit: Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers, LLC (BR+A),

I toured this building back in 2009 as part of the PAYETTE’s Grassroots Green initiative. The building, designed by Ellenzweig, is part of a scientific building quadrangle and actually links to our own Sherman Fairchild Building. It maximizes flexibility with movable lab benches, unassigned write-up desks and modular flexible MEP systems to anticipate future changes in the genomics proteomics field. I am most intrigued, however, by the researchers’ operations to promote sustainability. As part of the Harvard FAS Green Labs efforts, the different labs set up competitions to remind their researchers to close their fume hood sashes to reduce energy use. The real time monitors installed at prominent locations in each lab and monthly reports are certainly hard to miss!

Ngaire Stuart Gongora’s Picks:

For energy efficient laboratory buildings, it would only seem appropriate to present projects that I have personally experienced. Having completed my Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, two buildings located on Cornell’s campus really stick out to me.

Cornell University, Physical Sciences Building


Photo Credit: Cornell University

The building, designed by Koetter Kim & Associates, has high efficiency because it’s been designed to meet Cornell’s sustainability threshold and NYSERDA. I really like the building because of the way it’s able to layer spaces and relationships. They have left the exposed wall of the older Chemistry building, so it frames the atrium of the new building. The atrium space is a great place to meet up with people and study. The acoustics are very good for the amount of people and activity. Then you can further see the layer of folks working in the labs. In my opinion the best part of the building is the amount of natural light that pours into the space.

Cornell University, Ornithology Laboratory

Photo Credit: ArchDaily.com and RMJM

This is not the conventional lab we think of here at PAYETTE. This lab, designed by RMJM, is a facility that brings bird enthusiasts and researchers from around the world, with features such as the Library of Natural Sounds and a DNA sequencing lab. It’s a huge project that feels very integrated into the landscape. My favorite aspect of it are the warm tones and the materials they used. It’s a great design that is both inviting in the Ithaca winter, and sits well into the landscape in the summers.

Chris Mackey’s Pick:

Bristol Community College, John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building
 
Photo Credit:Edward Caruso Photography

Designed by Sasaki, it’s one of the first net-zero lab, and it’s also one of the first cases to prove that a net zero lab was less expensive than one that meets typical industry standards. The building makes use of several innovative technologies (filtered hoods, enthalpy wheels, ground source heat pumps, aircuity) and there was clearly a good synergy between the architectural and engineering teams. The architects managed to keep the glazing ratio low in a thoughtful manner that does not feel like a low-glazing building. 

Conference Details:
I²SL Annual Conference
October 15-18
Boston Marriott Copley Place

Check out the sessions we are leading on our Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex and Boston University Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences and Engineering.