Flexible casework and overhead utilities will improve adaptability in the open lab, where large instruments and containers of specimens may necessitate frequent reconfiguration. Photo: Chris Field.
The Project: Carnegie Institution of Washington (D.C.), Global Ecology Center, Stanford, Calif. Two-story facility. 11,000 ft2 (gross); 8,610 ft2 (net); 79% efficiency ratio. $4.1 million; $372/ gross ft2 (excludes 3,530 ft2 warehouse, greenhouses, site work).
This facility was awarded a special mention by Lab of the Year judges for its sustainability features. It also received an honorable mention award for plumbing engineering in the annual ARC Awards competition sponsored by Consulting-Specifying Engineer, a sister publication of Laboratory Design and R&D Magazine. In addition, the project received an honor award for energy and sustainability from the American Institute of Architects’ San Francisco chapter.
The Team: Esherick, Homsey, Dodge, and Davis (EHDD) Architecture, San Francisco (architecture); Rumsey Engineers, Oakland, Calif. (mechanical/plumbing engineering); Engineering Enterprise, Alameda, Calif. (electrical engineering); Design for Science, San Marcos, Calif. (lab consultant); Loisos + Ubbelohde Associates, Oakland, Calif. (daylighting consultant); Rutherford & Chekene, Oakland, Calif. (structural engineering); BKF Engineers, Pleasanton, Calif. (civil engineering); DPR Construction, San Francisco (contractor).
The Users: The Carnegie Institution, a private research organization, added a new department of global ecology in 2002. A 7-acre site leased from Stanford Univ. was selected for a new lab dedicated to studying large-scale ecological processes. The institution already had strong ties to Stanford since Carnegie’s department of plant biology is based on the same site, occupying about 40,000 ft2 of facilities. Existing greenhouses could be upgraded to serve both departments.
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Offices combine operable windows and radiant slab cooling/heating to maintain comfortable temperatures. Photo: Chris Field.
Ecology lab functions include analytical operations (atmospheric gas analysis, plant and micro-organism studies, and analysis of spectral reflectance and fluorescence), as well as wet lab activities (extraction/analysis of plant, soil, micro-organism, and water chemicals; analysis of plant and micro-organism gene expression). Offices, a 30-person conference area, and several small conference rooms, as well as a public lobby, are also included. Occupancy: ~50, including up to six principal investigators plus post docs, graduate and undergraduate students, and technical and administrative staff.
The Schedule: Design commenced winter 2001; occupied April 2004.
The Goals: Founded in 1902 by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Institution previously had five research centers: embryology, terrestrial magnetism, geophysics, astronomy (observatories), and plant biology. Coinciding with the organization’s centennial, trustees created a sixth department for the study of global warming and other crucial ecological issues. Researchers will have positions at Carnegie as well as faculty appointments at Stanford.
The lab’s mission is to conduct basic research on interactions among the earth’s ecosystems, land, atmosphere, and oceans, including climate change issues. In light of this emphasis, the client requested an environmentally innovative design that could set a new standard for “green” buildings. Carnegie wanted a “100-year” facility that would minimize environmental impacts (particularly carbon emissions), maximize energy efficiency, and emphasize use of sustainable materials. The initial goal was a building that used just 60% of the energy of a standard design (according to DOE2.1E simulation).
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All labs are on the main floor, with about half in an open work area. The second floor combines private and open office space with a large conference room. Plan: EHDD.
Reasoning that human activity poses a threat to global ecological balance, Carnegie wanted to demonstrate creative workplace design that would minimize negative impacts. Capital costs for “green” technology were viewed as an investment that would greatly reduce future operating expenses, conserving Carnegie’s limited resource pool. Finally, the trustees wanted the building to be an example for other institutions, particularly in California —a “living lab” that would encourage other building owners to pursue similar goals.
In addition to overt “green” techniques, the owners emphasized flexible space—making the facility adaptable to changing research projects, and reducing capital and environmental costs associated with future renovations.
The Solutions: The rectangular, two-story design employs siting, layout, and engineering features that exploit central California’s temperate climate. Labs are situated on the ground level, with once-through HEPA-filtered air and a controlled environment. A block of open labs lines the long north perimeter, with a series of more closed instrument rooms and wet labs on the south side.
Most of the center’s research can safely be done in the open zone, without the need for chemicals, fume hoods, or radioactive materials. These activities include equipment assembly and testing, sorting and drying plant materials, and some sample prep and analytical operations (for instance, spectral reflectance testing). The benches in the open zone are easy to move, should a forklift be needed as part of instrument assembly or to shift large containers of soil or water.
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The Carnegie Institution’s Global Ecology Center is intended to be a “100-year” building that illustrates sustainability principles in support of its mission. Use of recycled materials—for instance, redwood siding salvaged from wine tanks—is one of the key design strategies. Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto.
More sensitive research takes place in wet lab space, which can handle moderate amounts of chemicals and radioactive materials. Two fume hoods are available, as well as permanent instrument systems such as mass spectrometers and HPLCs.
The second floor features a similar arrangement of open and closed spaces, with an open office zone and three meeting/conference rooms on the north side and eight closed offices (for PIs as well as administrators and visiting faculty) on the south side. Because the open office zone includes many computers in a concentrated space, heat management and electrical power were key issues for this area.
The project also included a separate storage warehouse for samples and field equipment. The building contains both dry and frozen sample storage, as well as simple shelving for equipment that is kept in traveling cases. Environmental control in this area is basic, but adequate for the intended purpose.
The Highlights: Daylighting and displacement ventilation are two key energy-saving features. Artificial lights are used only when occupancy and light sensors indicate the need for them.
On the south side, a bank of high-performance first-floor windows is shaded by architectural sunshades, which extend into the interior as light shelves. Second-story windows on the south side are operable, as are high clerestory windows, allowing warm air to rise and exit.
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Key to “green” strategies: 1) night sky radiant cooling; 2) katabatic cooling tower; 3) spectrally selective glazing and roofing; 4) sunshades and light shelves; 5) dual flush toilets (not shown); 6) high-volume fly ash concrete;
7) salvaged wood cladding, casework: 8) native landscaping;
9) natural office ventilation; 10) radiant heating/ cooling; 11) daylighting in all spaces; 12) lighting with photosensor dimming. Diagram: EHDD.
The north side of the building has a similar glazing scheme, but without the need for the sunshades. The short west end has almost no windows, minimizing heat gain. Conversely, the eastern elevation, which includes the main entrance and lobby, has a pair of bi-fold glass doors that can be opened to take advantage of cool morning breezes. The doors also allow the staff to create an indoor-outdoor space for events, permitting free access between the lobby and an adjacent patio.
Radiant heating and cooling tubing installed in floors throughout the facility limit the conditioning of outside air. The 30-person conference room is the most challenging space to cool, due to shifting occupancies; it was also equipped with radiant cooling panels on the ceiling.
An unusual “night sky” sprinkler system works in concert with the cooling tubing. During summer nights, water is sprayed over the angled roofs, losing heat to the cold night sky. The water is collected and channeled to an insulated 12,000-gal tank, then pumped through the tubing during the day at 55° to 60°F. It is irradiated to kill microbes before returning to the night sky sprinklers. (For the hottest days, supplemental cooling is available using water from an existing 20-ton air-cooled chiller.)
A second unusual feature, which serves as both a climate-control device and an architectural accent, is the katabatic cooling tower. This square column is topped by a carefully sited “windcatcher” that directs breezes from above the roofline downward through the tower. Atomizing spray nozzles cool the air through an evaporative process, increasing both humidity and density. The thermally driven downdraft pushes cool air to the bottom of the tower, where it spills into the lobby. The draft continually pulls higher, warmer air downward to be cooled.
The combination of radiant tubing and displacement ventilation allowed the design team to completely eliminate the typical HVAC ductwork and fan usage on the second floor and in the lobby. For the lab zones, which are traditionally ventilated (though not traditionally heated/cooled), room exhaust is run through a heat pipe heat exchanger.
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Water cooled to 55° to 60°F with the night sky sprinkler system flows to an insulated holding tank, and is later pumped through the tubing in the radiant slabs. Photo: Paul Sterbentz.
In harmony with the cooperative climate, the design allowed engineers to spec a high-efficiency condensing gas boiler set at 110°F for hot water generation. Water holds heat better than air, so the heating tubes require only 1/10 hp pumps to deliver as much heat as a 20-in.-dia. duct using ¾ hp fans. For the lab zones, ventilated at six air changes/hr, air moves through 24-in. low-pressure-drop ducts, reducing fan power from ¾ hp to ¼ hp for 3,000 cfm.
Water is conserved by dual-flush toilets, low-flow faucets, and a waterless urinal, plus drought-resistant landscaping that replaced existing, irrigated turf.
Sustainability strategies also include a heavy reliance on “green” materials. Second-story exterior walls and the katabatic tower are clad with redwood siding salvaged from old wine tanks from a Sonoma County vineyard. This material won out over salvaged tropical hardwoods and certified domestic woods because designers believed it would have better long-term stability.
Recycled aggregate was used to replace 25% of the aggregate in site concrete. Most of the concrete used in the building also contains 55% fly ash, replacing cement—a desirable goal since cement production is estimated to contribute 8% of annual global CO2 emissions. Lab faucets and some of the lab casework were salvaged from other projects. Fixed worktables and open office desks were created from solid wood doors that had been hinged incorrectly for another project and were destined for a landfill.
Finishes are minimal to conserve both environmental and financial resources. The lobby flooring is integrally colored concrete; office zones have low-formaldehyde carpeting. Perforated acoustic metal decking acts as the structural roof and floor support, as well as the primary acoustical control and finished ceiling. Finish wood used on the interior is all Forest Stewardship Council certified ash or certified plywood with ash veneer.
The Results: Christopher Field, director of the global ecology department, says, “Our new building sets an example, showing that an ecologically sound complex can be beautiful, economical, safe, and efficient.” The finished project logs in at 54% less energy use than standard systems—nearly meeting Carnegie’s initial ambitious 60% goal.
Lab of the Year judge Peter Van Vechten, associate principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP in Chicago, says, “This project is noteworthy for its visual demonstration of energy-saving measures and its lack of pretension. It deserves recognition for the effort and for the unusual ideas.”
Judge Stanley Stark, managing partner at HLW International LLP, New York City, adds, “The team has been aggressive and relentless in pursuing every possible green and sustainable feature in the available inventory of options. As an experiment, it shines a bright light on potentially useful sustainable directions. Feedback on how these initiatives are performing over the next few years will be valuable.”
Judge Victoria David, partner at Maynard-David Partnership Inc., Arvada, Colo., agrees. “Several of the technologies are not really
market-feasible at this point, but possibly by trying them out at this scale, alternative concepts will emerge.”
Carnegie officials would obviously be pleased if the building’s example had a strong design impact, just as they hope the research conducted inside will be influential. Carnegie Institution president Richard Meserve says, “It is obvious that man has had an impact on climate, on biodiversity, on availability of clean air and clean water—a whole range of areas. We’re going to be judged on how well we have dealt with those problems, and in order to do that task sensibly, we’re going to require fundamental scientific information of the type that this department and others like it can provide.”
