Mark Hennessey, Manager, Real Property Acquisitions and Disposals, Natural Resources Canada

A unique private, public partnership venture, this is the first "P3" LEEDs Platinum real property project proudly advanced by McMaster University and Natural Resources Canada. Expanding beyond a real estate solution, this facility located in Hamilton Ontario will be a showcase for environmental leadership. This new 15,066 rm2 special purpose facility is under construction and anticipated to be complete and occupied by the spring of 2010. Presentation overview will define the design challenges, project process, governance and accountabilities, financing, construction management and long-term occupancy agreements.

Maureen Ellis, Senior Biosecurity Advisor, Global Partnership Program, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

Canada’s Global Partnership Program (GPP) is committed to assisting countries in the former Soviet Union with the establishment of physical protection measures to prevent the theft or accidental release of dangerous pathogens. In this regard, the GPP is investing heavily in renovating and constructing new biocontainment facilities in Central Asia. Achieving success with biocontainment facilities in this region of the world is dependent on careful risk planning in accordance with distinctive technical and resource limitations. The end-result is a containment facility that is not only safe and secure, but also affordable to operate in the long term.

The new Biological Containment Laboratory for Human and Animal Health, currently under development by the GPP in the Kyrgyz Republic, illustrates this approach. The facility was planned in accordance with the capabilities of local operators and maintenance trades to ensure a balance between providing a safe, secure and modern facility and providing a facility that can be sustained using local trades and materials. Conceptual design decisions were also influenced by: cost pressures, local unavailability of highly technical equipment, unreliable utilities, Krygyz unfamiliarity of constructing and operating highly complex containment facilities, and other unique limitations.

Examples include:

• The inclusion of both human and animal health laboratories in one facility with shared common spaces;
• Employing a zoning approach to both containment and security whereby architectural and mechanical systems are not over-designed for BSL2 and support spaces;
• Striking a balance between electronic and operational solutions (i.e., using visual signage vs. electronic interlocks);
• Designing simple architectural solutions (i.e., epoxy-based paint on gypsum board for interior BSL3 walls, monolithic sheet-vinyl flooring in BSL3 lab areas); and,
• Designing simple mechanical solutions (i.e., using flow-offset to achieve inward directional airflow, limiting the number of Class IIB2 biological safety cabinets).

Philip Wirdzek, Founding President and Executive Director, International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL)
Dwayne Willmer, National Director, Laboratory Business Segment, Public Works and Government Services Canada

Laboratory facilities represent an ever-expanding growth opportunity for design, engineering, and construction in both the United States, Canada, and throughout the world. Given continuous advances in science and technology, existing and planned laboratory facilities have been and are under constant pressure to meet diverse user needs. Unfortunately, these pressures continue to supersede efficiency and environmental performance, leaving the laboratory a prodigious consumer of natural resources. The typical laboratory uses many times as much energy and water per square foot as the typical office building. However, emerging building concepts and technologies are providing opportunities to move laboratory design, engineering, and operations in a new direction – reducing their dependence on natural resources, minimizing the impacts on laboratory occupants, and increasing collaboration among the international laboratory community. At the same time, a new environmental consciousness is also fuelling demand for healthier indoor environments and increased financial savings in laboratory operations. This is resulting in a search for a new generation of laboratories that are more efficient, environmentally responsive, cost-effective, and flexible, while enhancing productivity and assisting in attracting and retaining a quality workforce.

The mission of Labs21 is to find and promote new approaches to designing, constructing, operating and maintaining high-performance, energy efficient laboratories – a more sustainable approach.

In this joint presentation, Dwayne Willmer of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) will provide an overview of the Canadian Federal Government’s laboratory infrastructure, the direction of science and technology, existing challenges, and a summary of the potential benefits to be realized as a result of the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between PWGSC and EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) for growing the presence of LABS21 in Canada. Philip Wirdzik of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories will provide a detailed overview of the vision of LABS21, what it is intended to achieve, program components, success stories, and benefits of international collaboration in promoting high-performance, energy efficient, sustainable laboratories.