Dedicated to advancing sustainable laboratories globally.
B1 Decarbonization | Strategic Planning for Decarbonization
Carbon Reduction and Benchmarking: A love story!
This session delivers data-driven insights for solving the pressing problems research organizations are facing: outdated facilities, underutilized space, high investment for low return, and meeting regulatory and compliance requirements. Session leaders demonstrate the analysis processes that identify opportunities and drive smarter decisions for moving forward, inspiring innovative planning and operational solutions, and unlocking the potential of both new facilities or renovations. They illustrate methods for overcoming data challenges, mining and synthesizing large data sets, visualizing and planning scenarios for the future, and implementing long term facility data management systems.
Tuning a Mass Timber High-Rise Lab for Performance
Practical strategies for meeting life sciences laboratory requirements are essential to the broader adoption of mass timber in lab buildings. These requirements are especially challenging in high-rise developments, where code limitations and stiff vibration criteria demand creative solutions. We will share a case study that outlines a four-step process for integrating mass timber framing into a life sciences development optimized for sustainability. We will first explore how recent code updates create opportunities to economically reduce embodied carbon. Our findings also highlight high-rise mass timber hybrid approaches, comparing CO2 equivalent savings to conventional construction. Next, we focus at optimizing for two primary drivers: lab module considerations within space planning and the potential for exposed timber to enhance architectural character. These factors serve as key differentiators to lab tenants in the competitive commercial life sciences market. Finally, the case study explores additional decarbonization strategies, including a high-performance building envelope, thermal bridging mitigation, and adaptability to electrification. This four-step process establishes a practical framework for achieving sustainable high-rise life sciences developments.
​Innovations in Mass Timber for Science Buildings: Getting to a Win-Win
Science buildings are among the most energy- and carbon-intensive facilities, demanding innovative solutions to reduce environmental impact. Mass timber presents a promising path for decarbonization, offering significant embodied carbon reductions while creating high-performance research environments. However, its use in laboratory settings, including vibration control and chemical exposure, comes with challenges. This session explores two successful applications of mass timber in laboratory projects. The Washington State University (WSU) Vancouver Life Sciences Building demonstrates how mass plywood panels (MPP) reduce embodied carbon while maintaining structural integrity and durability. The Caltech Resnick Sustainability Center integrates cross-laminated timber (CLT) in a hybrid structure, proving that mass timber can be used in high-tech research environments with rigorous demands. Attendees will gain insights into overcoming design and regulatory challenges and strategies for implementing mass timber in future lab projects.
B2 Sustainable Science | Inclusive and Equitable Labs
Designing for Belonging in Scientific Workplaces: Prioritizing Well-Being in Research and Innovation
The ultimate goal of scientific workplaces is to create positive human experiences that encourage scientific discovery. It is crucial to support physical and mental health through healthy workspaces. In this presentation, Virginia Byers and Erin Ezell will explore how designing for belonging through enhanced research environments can promote overall well-being for a broad range of individuals and their needs. Research teams work in diverse environments, from enclosed offices to open bench and equipment-specific laboratories. The presenters will highlight two recently completed project examples that illustrate how the design of these spaces can cater to scientific needs while considering the physiological effects of the built environment. Case Study 1: Located in Baltimore, Morgan State University is a historically Black university rooted in the African American community. The university and the design team integrated occupant health and wellness into the building to create the new Health and Human Services Center which serves the university and community. Case Study 2: The UPMC Mercy Pavilion is designed to serve as a destination for healing and a hub for biomedical research. Bringing together patients, staff and visitors, the design promotes a spirit of belonging. Developed in partnership with Chris Downey, one of the world's few blind architects, the design team created strategies to enrich environments that help patients and visitors alike navigate through the building.
The Equity and Justice in Science Framework
This session builds upon Star Scott's body of work presented at previous I2SL conferences demonstrating the connections between the research enterprise, justice and equity. It is time to redefine what it means to "do good science" and consider the broader impacts of our efforts. The global research enterprise must evolve to become more equitable, not only for members of the scientific community, but also for communities outside of science who are impacted by extractive processes, manufacturing, transporting, high tech research facilities, scientific procurement and scientific waste streams. This presentation will share the Equity and Justice in Science Framework, detailing how to approach inquiries of equity and justice within the global scientific enterprise. This session will share categories, descriptors and insights for organizing justice and equity work within the sector. Through the utilization of a standardized framework, greater collective efforts can be achieved and data can be more easily amassed. Whereas previous sessions focused on specific examples, this session focuses on methodology for comprehensively and objectively approaching this important work. Attendees will leave with a clear foundation and basic shared terminology to support future integration and exploration of equity and justice in science.
Bridging Identities and Sustainability: Perspectives From Historically Underrepresented Individuals in Green Labs
The intersectionality of identity and sustainability is often overlooked, particularly for historically underrepresented people in the green labs field. This presentation will explore how identity shapes the development and impact of sustainability initiatives, sharing personal narratives of overcoming barriers, fostering engagement, and navigating institutional challenges. Speakers will discuss the hardships and rewards of this work, highlighting the intersection of cultural perspectives and environmental action. By creating space for reflection and dialogue, we aim to inspire deeper understanding and collaboration, especially in today's sociopolitical climate.
B3 Sustainable Design | Flexible Design Strategies
The Sweet Spot of Lab Flexibility
With the rapid acceleration of science and technology, how can lab design and construction respond and support this rapid pace? We will explore how to create an agile and sustainable lab environment that enhances collaboration and suits your short term and long term needs. 1. Design: Analyze how the design process can help you identify optimizations of agile spaces and practices based on your individual needs. 2. Construction: Learn how construction constraints, budgets, and construction methods can help tailor your business decisions to optimize future flexibility. 3. Sustainability: Learn how analyzing energy consumption, waste, business practices, and employee retention can inform adaptability and sustainability of your lab and business. 4. Analytics: Learn how analyzing data, setting goals, and measuring outcomes with technology and benchmarking can prepare your team and your space for advances in science and technology.
​Beyond Benchmarking: Data-Driven Lab Master Planning Strategies
Biogen commissioned IPS for a planning study to evaluate and optimize its multi-building, dual-site lab portfolio. The resulting master plan defined a long-term vision aligned with Biogen's programmatic needs, integrating industry best practices to create a flexible framework for future space requirements. Recommendations enhance knowledge sharing and adaptability, ensuring Biogen's labs remain responsive to evolving research demands. The presentation will highlight design strategies for improving spatial inefficiencies. A key focus considers how benchmarking data can inform decisions optimizing location, size, and configuration of lab programs. The role of strategic adjacencies and shared lab spaces in maximizing facility efficiency will also be examined. The discussion will explore the benefits of integrating benchmarking data into the planning process to drive informed decisions on program distribution and operational enhancements. This approach supports lab right-sizing, streamlined workflows, and the development of flexible, future-proof spaces. Attendees will gain insight into how data-driven methodologies can guide spatial planning to align with evolving research needs and technological advancements. The analysis will examine key early-stage principle formation and its impact on space allocation, operational efficiency, and adaptability, demonstrating integration into a comprehensive master plan aligned with long-term institutional goals and aspirations.
Fermilab's Helen Edwards Engineering Research Center (HEERC): Designing for the Unknown
The Fermilab HEERC pays homage to the institution's history; particularly Wilson Hall, while deviating from its usual approach to building design. The HEERC brings together scientists, who analyze data to make discoveries and determine scientific truths, and engineers, who apply this science, from satellite laboratories around the 6,800-acre campus to collaborate under a single roof. To support the HEERC's 100 researchers and their experiments over time, the design team worked with the Fermilab scientific community to understand their user groups' differing needs.To meet these requirements, the team designed features that are unusual for laboratories and Fermilab facilities; focusing on long-term scientific use cases as opposed to day-one needs. This includes flexible MEP infrastructure; and a robust structure spaces which twice exceeds typical offices. Despite these project requirements and many other features yielding an increase in the program area needed and associated costs, the project was delivered under budget. The operational costs will also be lower due to the HEERC's energy-efficient, fit-for-purpose lighting; carefully selected HVAC system design; and other energy savings strategies that achieve a US DOE-required 30 percent reduction in energy consumption over ASHRAE baseline. The Fermilab HEERC's flexible, sustainable design will support its scientific community's collaboration and cutting-edge research, even as its needs change, for generations to come.
B4 System Optimization | Fume Hood Management
Energy Efficiency and Performance in Fume Hoods: A Balanced Approach to Safety and Accessibility
The question of whether energy efficiency in fume hoods equates to reduced performance is a critical consideration in laboratory safety and sustainability. This presentation proposes to ask these questions and highlight that advances in modern fume hood design demonstrate that energy efficiency should not compromise performance; instead, it enhances containment and safety when paired with innovative engineering and adherence to industry standards. The paper will also draw comparisons on constant and variable airflow highlight that optimizing features such as variable air volume (VAV) systems and aerodynamic airflow designs, and energy-efficient fume hoods maintain robust containment at lower face velocities, reducing energy consumption while adhering to rigorous standards such as ANSI-ASHRAE 110 and EN 14175. These innovations ensure that laboratories can achieve both safety and sustainability without trade-offs. In addition to energy efficiency, accessibility has become a focal point in laboratory equipment design. Fume hoods, as essential tools must also accommodate diverse user needs. We will take a look at how technology can assist as well as ergonomic considerations further enhance accessibility thus empowering users with diverse abilities to work effectively and confidently.
How Low Can Flow Go for Safe and Energy-Efficient Labs?
Lab ventilation is the largest consumer of energy and the most difficult systems to maintain in laboratory buildings. In addition, ventilation systems provide primary protection for occupants and the primary means to control indoor environments that support research success. Lab ventilation risk assessments (LVRA) conducted in thousands of labs reveal that generic airflow specifications for fume hood flow and lab air changes rates are inappropriate, potentially dangerous, and often wasteful. The goal is to ensure safe and productive labs with the minimum energy consumption and resource expenditure. This means reducing flow to as low as possible and managing performance for the lifecycle of the systems. Ensuring that ventilation systems are designed and operating properly requires knowing how low you can safely go with flow without sacrificing safety and research success. The LVRA determines the minimum airflow specifications and special tests, beyond ASHRAE 110, are used to specify and validate proper performance. This paper describes advanced test methods that are used to determine minimum fume hood flow and face velocities when the sashes are open, the minimum flow when the sashes are closed, and the minimum room ACH required for safe and energy efficient labs. The results are used establish appropriate specifications during new design and renovation of labs to maximize lab safety while minimizing energy use and operating costs.
Managing Fume Hood Inventory From Outside the Lab
Managing fume hood inventory in a university setting is a challenging endeavor, one that pushes against academic boundaries. The researchers want hoods to function and be readily available when needed, EH&S wants users to operate the hoods safely, the Department of Research Safety wants them to be compliant with research/safety regulations, lab planners and designers want them to fit into the lab spaces functionally while integrating into the building HVAC systems, and the building managers want them to operate reliably and efficiently. Managing a building's fume hoods is not the highest priority for many of these folks. As for retrocommissioning and recommissioning teams, a building's performance relies heavily on fume hoods operating efficiently and safely. The ability to view and control this performance remotely is critical in maintaining hood performance, lab ventilation and building energy consumption. Building automation system (BAS) controls play a pivotal role in optimizing HVAC, lab ventilation and fume hood operation. In this presentation, we share energy efficiency/saving BAS system programming and functionalities that are common with most automation systems, fume hood assessment and management practices, along with effective lab owner/occupant engagement strategies and solutions for latent defects from project completion, planning and design to optimize lab operations, reduce energy consumption, and free up lab space.
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