NIST pushes compliance in hurricanes’ wake A new report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology says Gulf Coast buildings would have held up a lot better in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita if existing building standards, codes, and practices had been followed. The study, based on Oct. 2005 field observations by NIST teams, says local officials need to adopt and enforce good standards and model codes, as well as making some simple changes in building practices. Particular problems cited included roofing failures caused by fastener flaws (too few, or in the wrong places); damage from gravel dislodged from rooftops (model codes disallow gravel on roofs in high-wind zones); below-grade siting of critical equipment like generators (which should be placed above potential flood levels); and masonry wall failures due to improper anchoring and/or reinforcement. In April, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour signed legislation imposing a stronger building code on five coastal counties previously devastated by hurricanes. Louisiana adopted the International Building Code last November, with the state’s most coastal parishes (counties) forced to adopt the code as of the beginning of this year. (The rest of the state has until Jan. 1, 2007, to comply.) For more: www.bfrl.nist.gov (see “Performance of Physical Structures in Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita: A Reconnaissance Report,” Technical Note 1476). Indiana “super park” underway The West Gate @ Crane Technology Park, a “super park” spanning property in Indiana’s Daviess, Greene, and Martin counties, has been launched with a 25,000-ft2 facility: a light manufacturing, office, and warehouse building. The tenant, EG&G, is a U.S. DoD contractor for the nearby Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane; the facility will be designed by Facilities Solutions Group, Elk Grove Village, Ill., which has also created a phased master plan for the site. Two other park buildings are expected to be launched this year, and ultimately the park could occupy some 200 acres. Local officials envision a park focused on tech transfer, fueled by the military center as well as nearby Purdue Univ. and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. CB Richard Ellis, Indianapolis, is the leasing and build-to-suit agent. For more: www.westgatecrane.com. Kentucky developing research campus If all goes as planned, Lexington, Ky., will be the site not only of elite horse farms but also high-tech breakthroughs. The Univ. of Kentucky’s Coldstream Research Campus, a 735-acre site, just saw completion of its first major structure since the early 1990s: the Center for Pharmaceutical Science and Technology. The $17 million, 20,000-ft2 building focuses on manufacture of small batches of drugs for human trials. It is a spinoff of an existing GMP program at the Univ. of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. Michigan developer Kale Roscoe, head of Lexhold Institutional Real Estate Solutions, is now working on a pair of five-story lab buildings in the park, totaling 332,000 ft2. The tenant buildings, collectively known as the Lexhold International Canter for Technological Innovation, should be ready by early 2007. CB Richard Ellis will be the leasing agent. Also occupying the campus are the 163,500-ft2 Coldstream Center tenant lab, and the Kentucky Technology Center, a “mini-campus” of smaller buildings totaling 91,000 ft2, which currently has 16 tenants. For more: www.ukcoldstream.com. Philly incubator expanding The Science Center, West Philadelphia, plans to create a new 130,000-ft2 spec lab building, as well as parking for 500 cars. Team members in the new project include developer Wexford Science & Technology LLC, and architects Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership and Ueland, Junker, McCauley, Nicholson. The new $50 million building, with a target completion date of late 2007, is just Phase 1 of an ambitious program that could ultimately encompass some 1.8 million ft2 of additional space for early-stage life science companies, doubling the size of the existing campus. Up next would be a 300,000-ft2 facility, though development is expected to be delayed until a major tenant is found. For more: www.sciencecenter.org.. Design costs on the rise Hourly billing rates by architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms are up by an average of 17% since 2003, according to consulting firm ZweigWhite. The 2006 “Fee and Billing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms” notes that the three-year fee rise was highest for senior architects (32%), senior scientists (28%), mechanical engineers (27%), senior process engineers (26%), and senior planners (25%). Senior-level landscape architects, civil engineers, and mechanical engineers saw rate increases in the 20 to 22% range, as did non-senior architects and planners. (The survey defined “senior level” as those with at least five years of experience and some project-management responsibilities.) Fees rose less than 10% during the three-year period for structural engineers (all levels) and for senior interior designers. No fee decreases were reported for any of the 29 surveyed job titles. For more: www.zweigwhite.com. Study examines education, diversity issues Companies focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) may be aware of the notion that American strength in these fields is slipping due to a lack of highly skilled employees—but unaware that greater ethnic and gender diversity could bring major benefits. That’s the conclusion of a survey-based report, “The Bayer Facts of Science Education XII: CEOs on STEM Diversity.” The report is based on a telephone poll of 100 CEOs and other C-level executives in fast-growing science and technology companies. “Despite many of the executives being aware of the recent national warning reports, a good proportion have not yet fully made the connection between the potential STEM manpower shortage issue and the potential untapped talent pool that exists in those individuals who are still not well-represented in these fields, says Mae C. Jemison, CEO of BioSentient Inc. and national spokesperson for Bayer’s “Making Science Make Sense” science literacy outreach program. For more: http://tinyurl.com/mkdjc. LBNL gets cool roof grant The California Energy Commission has awarded a $1.25 million grant to the Lawerence Berkley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif., for the development, deployment, and validation of “cool roof” technology. The project is intended to speed up the acceptance of cool roofs through rebate programs; expand the quantity of appropriate products available; create new roofing materials; and support roof rating and marketing programs. Large-scale materials testing experiments will be part of the program. The focus of the grant is residential, but technology could transfer into the commercial arena as well. The thrust of LBNL’s previous work in this area has been developing dark-colored materials (tiles, shingles, metal panels) that meet aesthetic requirements while reducing cooling costs, the heat island effect, and related air pollution. For more: http://tinyurl.com/qxzll. NREL, universities launch “collaboratory” Colorado state funding has allowed creation of the new Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory—a cooperative project involving the DoE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State Univ., and the Univ. of Colorado. The project will receive up to $2 million per year for three years, beginning in FY2007, to be used as matching funds that will enable the Collaboratory to qualify for federal and private research grants. Overhead will come from existing budgets. Work is expected to involve areas in which NREL and the other partner insitutions already have strong research focuses, including solar and wind energy, biofuels, geothermal energy, hydrogen fuel cells, and other emerging technologies. For more: http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/release.cfm/release_id=123. USGBC chews on LEED wood credit changes Policymakers on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) steering committee have been asked by the U.S. Green Building Council to consider changing the system’s credits for wood and bio-based materials (MRc6 and MRc7). The changes were requested, in part, as the result of a Sept. 2005 summit involving the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forests Initiative, and the Canadian Standards Assn. The recommendations include changing MRc6 from a “rapidly renewable” resource credit to one that allows points for all bio-based materials, including wood, that meet minimum certification levels. The proposed change to MRc7 would allow credit for wood certified by systems other than the FSC’s, including a system created by the Sustainable Forests Initiative. Any new wood certification systems would have to be accredited, but the process for accreditation remains under debate. For more: www.usgbc.org/News/PressRelease Details.aspx?ID=2322. Pfizer lab scores first LEED Silver in state The Pfizer Clinical Research Unit, New Haven, Conn., completed in April 2005, has been awarded Silver Certification in the LEED program. This marks the first such designation for any Connecticut building. The 62,000-ft2 lab, designed by the S/L/A/M Collaborative of Glastonbury, Conn., also received a “Three Globes” designation in the Green Globes environmental assessment system. An alternative to LEED, Green Globes places particular stress on an integrated design and construction process. Green Globes is administered by the Green Building Initiative, a construction industry group. The Pfizer CRU was the first commercial building to achieve the Three Globes designation. Other key team members included Maachi Engineers LLC, Hartford (structural engineering); van Zelm Haywood & Shadford, West Hartford (MEP engineering); and Whiting Turner Construction, New Haven (general contractor). For more: http://www.thegbi.org/greenglobes/pdf/PfizerCaseStudy.pdf..