“A large percentage of the opportunities for improving the environmental performance of labs relate back to energy,” says Bill Odell, HOK’s director of science + technology (North Central Region) and sustainable design principal. “This becomes even more critical when you consider that they are also among the most expensive building types to construct. They are expected to be flexible and durable enough to last for many years.”

Odell says an integrated design process in which the design team is thinking about energy efficiency from the beginning and working together creates more value for clients.

Engineer Rich Janis, president of William Tao & Associates, agrees with Odell. “Organizations who want energy-efficient labs should consider the engineering early in the design process.”

Indoor Air Quality
Much of that energy load in labs is for the ventilation required to maintain safe indoor air quality. “Safety is the number one consideration -- period -- in designing labs,” says Odell. “We must be careful never to compromise safety when we reduce energy loads.”

Most labs require 100% fresh air, which means the outside air used for cooling and heating can’t be recirculated. By comparison, an office building’s HVAC system might use 25% fresh air. So all the energy necessary to condition that “single-pass” lab air is lost as the air handling system exhausts it back into the atmosphere.

Then there are the fume hoods, which dispense gases and vapors created by lab experiments to the outside before they can contaminate the indoor air. A fume hood basically is a box with a movable sash window on the front. Researchers raise the sash, place their hands through the “face,” or open area, and perform their work through this protective glass. Air is pulled through the open face, drawing dangerous fumes away from the researchers and out of the building.

These fume hoods typically operate 24 hours a day. With air circulating through the sashes at 100 feet per minute (FPM), fume hoods create considerable exhaust flow and affect many aspects of the HVAC design.

Bioinformatics and Automated Research
While potentially reducing the amount of fume hoods needed for experiments, a trend toward bioinformatics labs and automated or simulated research boosts the need for electrical capacity and increases cooling requirements for large computer rooms.

At the Danforth Center, for example, one “lab” houses one of the world’s largest array of computers for plant biology. “It’s a room full of racks with more than 1,000 linked Pentium III processors wired to do DNA gene-sequencing computations,” says Jeff Strohmeyer, a senior HOK lab designer.

24-7 Operations
Researchers often spend vast amounts of time in their labs — it’s anything but a nine-to-five job.

“The processes that researchers set up don’t conform to a time clock,” says Odell. “And, like architects, they tend to live with their work. So we can have people in labs at any time, day or night.”

The nature of the around-the-clock operations means the labs need to be pleasant and comfortable.

“It’s important to give your researchers the best space possible within your budget,” notes Odell. “This is where you want your people to spend their time. So we design daylit spaces with views to the outside and provide flexible, well-equipped labs.”

Big Opportunities
Supporting the intensive energy needs of labs demands powerful electrical, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. This creates huge opportunities for lab designers to recoup the owners’ costs by cutting down on energy use.

Developing new or renovated labs with lower life-cycle energy costs can ultimately help organizations funnel more funding into actual research, the real driver of business success.

Because labs are among the most expensive building types, they require a considerable capital investment. Designers should avoid “fringe” solutions and concentrate on proven energy-efficient technologies, of which there are plenty.

As expensive as labs are to build and operate, people are by far the most costly part of any new building. Organizations spend an enormous amount of money on employees over the life of a building. If sustainable design can optimize how people spend their time, even a one percent increase in productivity will far surpass the economic benefits of a one percent savings in operating costs.

A Holistic Approach
Optimizing the energy efficiency of labs means looking at the relationship of each individual component of the entire facility. A truly integrated design process will account for the relationships among lighting, daylighting, HVAC, and control systems.

By coordinating the design of all the individual systems at the Nidus Center, for example, the team was able to achieve a 30% reduction in energy use compared to what could have been expected from a conventional lab building -- despite 24-hour per day lab use.

The Economic Benefits
Odell is encouraged that throughout his experience designing several lab projects with a green focus, the researchers within these client organizations pledged their full support.

“These researchers are analytical by nature. They know the science behind this and understand the benefits. So far I have not had a single scientist who was not absolutely 100 percent behind our sustainable initiatives.”

While the environmental benefits of sustainable lab design all are important, HOK Director of Science + Technology (Southeast Region) Dave Hronek says that there’s a misperception among some people that this approach will harm the organization’s bottom line.

First, there are many actions designers can take that have no extra cost. And even when there are additional upfront costs, sustainable design can make good economic sense.

“Your utility bills will be lower,” says Hronek. “The building will cost less to operate over time. Your people will be more satisfied and more productive – not to mention healthier. You’ll attract and keep better people. You’ll reduce future risks. You’ll generate positive public relations in your community. When clients comprehend all this, the message hits home.”

Measuring Success
Currently, there are very few indicators to predict and measure the success of buildings. Beyond the code-required minimums that guide life safety and energy performance, owners are generally on their own to distinguish good performance from marginal performance in terms of a whole host of issues, from lighting quality to stormwater management. It can be even more difficult to determine what constitutes exemplary performance, as many standards define only minimum requirements.

The LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system brings individual standards and best practices together in one place, and fills in the gaps where standards do not currently exist. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is based on a point system, with four levels of award that recognize different "shades of green."

“LEED is a great tool,” says Sandy Mendler, sustainable design principal in HOK’s San Francisco office, “because it promotes a holistic definition of green building that is actually measurable. One of the strengths of LEED is that it's balanced and focuses on issues owners really care about." For example, more than half (33 of 64) of the core points in the LEED system contribute directly to improved comfort and quality of life, nearly half (31 of 64) contribute directly to economic benefits, and only 20% (13 of 64) have environmental stewardship as the sole justification.

“When building owners ask us about LEED, we tell them that LEED has value for them as a quality assurance tool and a process management tool,” Mendler says. “LEED enables us to achieve higher quality, higher value buildings within the available budget. Because of the high and water energy use that is typical in a lab, this means that there is real money to be saved.”

Efforts are underway to develop a version of LEED specifically tailored for labs; however, it is a relevant and useful tool in its current form. HOK’s design for the Nidus Center was one of the first LEED projects certified, and both the Emory Whitehead lab and the San Mateo Forensics lab, which are currently under construction, will be certified when they are complete.