Funding freeze-out stymies Fermilab The federal budget hammered out in a House-Senate compromise in late 2007 would be “devastating” to construction plans at Fermilab, according to director Pier Oddone. If signed by President Bush, the budget will reduce annual federal funding for high-energy physics research by some $90 million, blocking ongoing work on the new International Linear Collider and the Super Conducting Radio Frequency Accelerator. Oddone says these projects are essential for the continuation of physics research at the Batavia, Ill., lab, after the planned 2010 shutdown of the existing Tevatron particle accelerator. Layoffs of at least 200 staff members were predicted, as was a halt in construction of the NOvA neutrino detector at Ash River, Minn. (operated by the Univ. of Minnesota in a cooperative research project with Fermilab). Pundits speculated that the resignation of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, whose congressional district encompassed Fermilab, had something to do with the lab’s lack of budgetary clout. For more: www.fnal.gov/pub/today/FY08budget-impactonFermilab.html. Labs win recognition The Omega Center for Sustainable Living, Rhinebeck, N.Y., was recognized at the November Greenbuild 2007 conference, taking honors in the Living Building Competition. The contest, created by the U.S. Green Building Council in partnership with the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, celebrates the country’s highest level of environmental performance currently achieved, with criteria intended to exceed LEED Platinum standards. The Omega Center, created for the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies by BNIM Architects of Kansas City, Mo., will be an environmental research and education center that includes an innovative bio-based wastewater treatment and recycling system, green energy, and other sustainability strategies. It received an On the Boards Award since it has not yet been completed; ground was broken in early October. For more: www.eomega.org/omega/support/wastewater/. The Grinnell College Conard Environmental Research Area Education Center, Kellogg, Iowa, won an honor award in the Sustainable Design/Institutional category of the 2007 Design Awards competition administered by the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Designed by Holabird & Root LLP, Chicago, the 7,000-ft2 classroom and lab facility is situated in a nature preserve remote from the main Grinnell campus, and is virtually self-sufficient in resource use. Daylighting, geothermal heating, and a water-collecting roof that feeds greenhouses and toilets contributed to the project’s high marks, according to judges. For more:www.aiachicago.org/special_features/2007DEA/index.asp. The 275,000-ft2 National Security Sciences Building at the Los Alamos (N.M.) national lab received a 2007 award from the Design-Build Institute of America. The building, designed by HDR Architects and built by Hensel Phelps Construction Co., won an Excellence award in the Public Sector Building/Over $15 Million category. The DBIA also presented a Merit award to the Baylor Univ. Sciences Building in the Private Sector Building/Over $15 Million category. The 508,000-ft2 facility was designed by HarleyEllis and built by The Beck Group. For more: www.dbia.org/about/awards/national/award2007.htm. Emeryville research park progresses EmeryStation East, a new four-story spec lab building, is taking shape not far from the Novartis/Chiron Corp. R&D facilities in Emeryville, Calif. Part of Wareham Development’s EmeryStation mixed-use community, the facility complements the existing EmeryStation North lab/office building, completed in 2001. It offers about 245,000 ft2 of labs and offices for life, physical, and nano science research. Tenants will include Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc., Amyris Biotechnologies, and the DoE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute, a six-institution partnership led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. SmithGroup was the architect, with construction services by DPR. Also underway in the Bay Area, where research space is tight and rentals are brisk, are two spec labs by Alexandria Real Estate Equities: one in Mission Bay, one in South San Francisco. For more: www.emerystationeast.com. Virginia Tech to remodel Norris Hall Norris Hall, site of the horrific shooting of 30 students and faculty at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, last April, will house a consolidated Engineering Science and Mechanics department a well as a new Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. Labs in the lower level, which were not part of the incident, will continue in operation, while the second-floor classroom wing that was the site of the violence will be remodeled. In addition to the Peace Studies center, the revamped space will offer new common facilities for the Engineering Science and Mechanics department, and ESM will vacate some existing space in another building to make room for a new Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships. The $1 million plan, approved in December by university officials, will preserve important science space that is unduplicated elsewhere at Tech and allow consolidation of ESM functions that are currently scattered, while creating new facilities for anti-violence studies and activities. For more: www.vtnews.vt.edu/news_print/index.php?relyear=2007&itemno=753. Arizona lab scores LEED Platinum The Applied Research and Development Building at Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, has joined an elite handful of labs that have achieved LEED Platinum, the highest ranking available in the U.S. Green Building Council’s sustainability rating system. The $25 million, 60,000-ft2 facility scored 60 LEED points. Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects of Tucson was the lead designer, in association with Hopkins Architects of London, U.K.; Arup of London and San Francisco was the MEP engineer. Kitchell Contractors, Phoenix, built the facility. For more: www.tucsoncitizen.com/business/pressrelease/post/32.