www.labdesignnews.com Volume 20, Number 1
Image: Shutterstock
Alicia Pandimos Maurer, AIA,
LEED AP BD&C
Chris Ertl, AIA, MBA,
LEED-AP BD&C
CRB
Universities, community colleges and other public institutions are
working on an increasingly
shrinking budget. We in the
design community need to
adapt, while providing our
clients the best and highest-quality projects working
within these tight budgetary
constraints. Many institutions
think they need to sacrifice
sustainability, cutting-edge
technology or high-end design
to remain within their desired
monetary limits.
Starting with sustainability
basics, lab designers explore
building envelope and siting to maximize daylight to
reduce lighting load. Siting also helps to
reduce glare and HVAC loads. HVAC systems, the largest energy users in a building, are discussed in terms of “
right-siz-ing,” maximum efficiency and highly efficient mechanical spaces for maintenance.
Proper sizing, spacing and installation of
plumbing and process utilities allows not
only for increased efficiency, but ensuring
access to these systems allows for maintenance over the lifetime of a building.
Using Energy Star-rated equipment and
minimizing equipment plug loads greatly
reduces electrical loads on buildings and
increases building efficiencies. Efficient
lab design through the use of flexible casework, modules and effective lab zoning
will create user-friendly, as well as efficient, lab spaces.
A key component of cost-effective
high-performance lab buildings is continuous and early cost planning. With the use
of highly experienced construction managers or costing experts, the design team
can gain an understanding of design decisions and their cost impact at schematic
design, where their impact is minimal.
Effective cost modeling and benchmarking
Cutting-edge lab design on an office budget
tools make teams stronger in deciding on
cost impacts that positively affect design.
Out-of-the-box ideas include CFD modeling to lower HVAC costs and pinpoint
hot and cold spots, reducing fan speed and
fume hood cfm, and use of chilled beams
in lowering HVAC system size.
Bioscience 2 on the University of
Colorado Anschutz Medical School Campus
is a 112,000-sf, four-story speculative lab
building which is on track for LEED Gold.
Bioscience 2 represents a unique project
structure for the university, as it’s the first
time they have come together in a pub-lic-private partnership with the Fitzsimons
Redevelopment Authority (FRA).
Bioscience 2 contains a cleanroom suite, as
well as a new Bioengineering Program, mass
spectrometer labs and a cord blood bank.
The second case study is for University
of Nebraska Lincoln, Behlen Laboratory.
This is a 20,500-gsf, three-story reno-
vation of a 1960s-era lab building. The
vision for Behlen Lab is to recapital-
ize a facility that will provide flexible,
multidisciplinary, economical and yet
very high-quality research spaces with
enhanced standardized utilities. The labs
in Behlen are designed to flex from chem-
istry to biology and physics. In addition to
these programs, the building houses one
of the most powerful laser research sys-
tems on campus.
Both projects posed significant challenges: budget, design constraints and
sustainability goals. Innovative design elements in both projects make these facilities truly sustainable labs, with baseline
standards significantly more efficient than
ASHRAE 90.1. Both labs use a module
system to ensure maximum efficiency and
flexibility in design.
Alicia Pandimos Maurer is a Lab Planner
and Project Architect with CRB. Pandimos
Maurer is an architect with more than 14
years planning. Her specialty is lab planning with a focus on sustainability and
flexibility.
Chris Ertl, AIA, LEED-AP BD&C is
a Senior Lab Planner, Project Manager
and Project Architect with CRB. Ertl is
a lab planner with more than 19 years of
experience in architectural design and lab
planning and has a detailed understanding
of advanced lab concepts and the resulting
impact on systems. www.crbusa.com
