The Information Resource for Lab Design, Engineering & Construction
White roofs raise complex questions
February 23, 2010 3:25 am | News | CommentsWhite roofs are gaining popularity as a measure to reduce the demand for air conditioning and combat global climate change, especially in densely populated urban areas.
How to make offices greener
February 23, 2010 3:21 am | News | CommentsMost lab buildings consist not only of laboratories but also a significant amount of office space. The new book “Retrofitting Office Buildings to Be Green and Efficient,” by the Urban Land Institute, discusses a global trend toward rehabbing all types of administrative facilities for better sustainability.
Window technologies scrutinized at NREL
February 23, 2010 3:16 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo., are hard at work studying the next generation of “smart windows.”
Johns Hopkins Health System, Wilmer Eye Institute, Robert H. & Clarice Smith Building, Baltimore.
February 16, 2010 8:04 am | News | CommentsNew six-story building consolidates and doubles the institute’s previously available space for research, offering one floor for outpatient eye surgery and five floors of research labs.
Chicago Horticultural Society, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center, Glencoe, Ill.
February 16, 2010 7:50 am | News | CommentsLow-slung facility is dedicated to plant conservation (in partnership with the plant biology and conservation program of nearby Northwestern Univ.); public education; and a living example of sustainability technologies, such as the green roof. Primary program elements include labs, PI offices, an herbarium, a seed vault facility, seminar and conference rooms, and a plant science library.
Sanford Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona, Lake Nona, Fla.
February 16, 2010 7:43 am | News | CommentsProject is first branch of independent research organization outside its La Jolla, Calif., home base, and the first major facility at the state-supported Lake Nona life sciences development. The building is designed to support occupancy of ~300 within 10 years, including 30 principal investigators.
Waterless urinal systems offer benefits
February 16, 2010 7:27 am | Product Releases | CommentsWater-free urinals from Falcon Waterfree Technologies are available in several styles and colors and in vitreous china and stainless steel.
Generators supply high-purity hydrogen
February 16, 2010 7:24 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe Parker Domnick Hunter H-MD ultra-high-purity hydrogen gas generators offer safe operation, reliability, performance and low cost of ownership, according to the manufacturer.
Switching mode power supply is adjustable and compact
February 16, 2010 7:20 am | Product Releases | CommentsA fully integrated, compact power supply that essentially puts a “room full of power” into one 24-in. wide rack and features low ripple and low stored energy is available from Diversified Technologies Inc.
Reduce noise with pump enclosures
February 16, 2010 7:16 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe new vacuum pump enclosures from MS Noise are designed to improve working conditions in labs that use vacuum pumps to operate instruments such as mass specs and SEMs.
New York data center lauded
February 16, 2010 7:02 am | News | CommentsData centers are an important part of some research facilities, and IBM and Syracuse Univ. recently unveiled an innovative example designed to use ~50% less energy than is typical.
Plants go vertical on Portland façade
February 16, 2010 6:59 am | News | CommentsA large-scale experiment in the “green wall” concept will be implemented in Portland, where federal stimulus funds are paying for a rehab of the 18-story Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building.
Feds to support state green efforts
February 16, 2010 6:55 am | News | CommentsA new federal action group formed by the EPA and the Dept. of Energy will be dedicated to helping states improve the energy efficiency of buildings by 2020.
Biofuels hotbed of research activity
February 16, 2010 6:50 am | News | CommentsDriven by concern about global climate change, the biofuels industry is increasingly the subject of research activity that is likely to require new construction or renovation of compatible lab buildings.
Biodesign Institute takes another award
February 16, 2010 6:36 am | News | CommentsThe Biodesign Institute at Arizona State Univ., Tempe, named R&D Magazine’s Laboratory of the Year in 2006, has been named recipient of an Honor Award in the General Design Category of the 2009 Professional Awards, administered by the American Society of Landscape Architects.
