Trevor M. Uitvlugt, P.Eng. LEED® AP, Mechanical Engineer, Hemisphere Engineering
Wayne Yuen, P.Eng., LEED®AP, Mechanical Engineer, Hemisphere Engineering

The objective of this presentation will be to get the audience thinking about how new design technologies like building information modeling (BIM) will affect current and future design. The International Vaccine Centre (INTERVAC), at the University of Saskatchewan will be used as a case study to present current innovative lab design and benefits to the owner using current methods. This laboratory is a containment level 3 (CL3) facility that studies diseases affecting both animals and humans.

Moving forward, the presenters will compare current design methods vs evolving BIM technologies and the impact this will have on laboratory design. The audience will be challenged to think about the benefits of BIM, what the possibilities are, and what the opportunities will be in the near future. The presenters will identify where the current roadblocks are and generate discussion of how we can overcome them for future implementation of innovative laboratory design.

Mike Dymarski, Chief Administrative Officer, Chemistry Department, University of Toronto

The Lash Miller Chemistry Building at the University of Toronto was built in 1963. An addition, the Davenport Research Wing, was built in 2000. In total the building comprises almost 300,000 square feet of research and teaching laboratories plus administrative offices. There are presently over 400 fume hoods in the building, consisting of both CAV and VAV hoods. The air handling system in the original Lash Miller Building and teaching wing is over 45 years old.

Recent laboratory renovations have been challenging. Lessons learned from case studies presented in previous Labs21 conferences and documented on the Labs21 website have been incorporated into new laboratory construction. For example:

• Cascading air systems have been incorporated into two laboratory renovations using clean exhaust air from administrative offices and a student lounge as supply air for the laboratories.

• Reduced-velocity fume hoods have been incorporated into new laboratory design. This has reduced supply air requirement and conditioning by 33 percent with a subsequent dollar savings in heating and cooling.

• Lighting has been upgraded to more energy-efficient fixtures controlled by occupancy sensors.

These case studies will be presented along with goals for the future.

Kevin Humeniuk, M.Arch., B.E.D., MAA, LEED AP, Architect, Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Incorporated
Sarah Chernis, B.Env.D., LEED ® AP, Energy Modeler/Sustainability Coordinator, Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Incorporated

This session will discuss the challenges associated with minimizing energy and resource consumption in laboratories, while maintaining high levels of safety and security in context of the renovation project for the JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Centre in Winnipeg. The presentation will specifically address the process undertaken to create a customized green building rating system which combines the intent of the Labs21 environmental performance criteria with the requirements and Canadian content of LEED Canada-NC v1.0.

Caesar Ruest, BIM Solutions Executive, Architecture Engineering Construction – Canada, Autodesk

Faced with business challenges of sustainability, cutting costs, reducing waste and maximizing efficiency, progressive owners report that the ability to locate and access critical building asset information is vital to project performance, and ultimately affects their bottom line. When considering the complex nature of laboratories and hospitals, the challenge to support institutional infrastructures becomes exponential.

The operation and maintenance of buildings throughout their lifecycle can be challenging for Canadian building owners due to the fragmented nature of the industry, paper documentation practices complete with their respective silos, inconsistent technology adoption, and a lack of standardization. In the past 5 years though the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within capital project delivery has introduced significant efficiencies and reduction of waste throughout the entire design and construction cycle, to the point where owners are beginning to realize the potential of digitally tracking their inventory of infrastructure assets and their respective maintenance requirements. Beyond tracking information, a BIM serves as a highly visual asset suited for planning within health and safety, green policy and capital initiatives, and on-going building functional programming.

This session will explore how a BIM is used after the project delivery process, where it’s integrated into facility management, operations and maintenance, and future capital planning. Case studies and practical examples will help describe the process change undertaken by owners and their consultants to ultimately affect their bottom line.

Jim Goodwin, Principal, DIALOG (formerly Cohos Evamy)

The Energy Environment Experiential Learning (EEEL) building at the University of Calgary is a multi-disciplinary undergraduate laboratory and classroom facility in which learning, technology and architecture will come together to provide an optimized experiential learning environment. Capacity for energy- and environment-oriented research is included. It is scheduled for completion in early 2011.

This presentation will discuss program development, project organization and management, participatory design development, and the final building design. By sharing planning, organizational and technical details of the EEEL project, attendees will be provided with a template for the development of a successful integrated learning environment.

The EEEL building is designed for students of the 21st century and their instructors, holding to specific key strategies for success. By starting the project with a series of discussions on exactly what was expected of a new building, a set of guiding statements was created with inputs from all areas of the university community. The opportunity to craft a building system to host a variety of academic units linked to the common themes of “energy environment experiential learning”, coupled with a desire for a highly sustainable, highly productive environment, automatically created a very functional and elegant structure. The further amalgamation of traditionally segregated academic activities will produce a more open learning environment with deliberate blurring of boundaries between lectures, laboratories, technology spaces and also between usually independent academic units of science and engineering disciplines.

Major capital projects are high-risk endeavours. Expectations from users and operators are very high, especially with respect to sustainability, and balance must be found between initial capital cost, life cycle operating expenses, and capacity for current and future program needs. Managing the expectations of users and occupants, viewed more often now as ephemeral tenants rather than permanent owners, through effective programming, design participation, space adaptability and especially fully transparent communication practices, are all brought together in this particular project. Building engineering systems are evolving to truly address sustainment issues but to also demonstrate and respond to community requirements, opportunities for integration with learning activities and exemplars for best practice. The many unique features of the EEEL building will be illustrated.