June 22 Opening Keynote

Science, Technology and Innovation Policy in Canada

Rob James, A/Secretary General, National Research Council Canada

An overview of the science, technology, and innovation policy landscape in Canada will be presented in order to help position subsequent discussions in science and technology (S&T) real property issues and opportunities. Broad issues facing the nation will be outlined that point to and highlight the importance of S&T and innovation to Canada. An overview of Canada’s innovation system will be discussed, along with the key S&T policy challenges facing the nation. This will be followed by a description of the 2007 federal S&T strategy which was designed and launched to address these challenges and opportunities.

June 22 Luncheon Keynote

The Future of Labs21 in Canada

Phil Wirdzek, Founding President and Executive Director, International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories

Laboratories for the 21st Century, or Labs21®, evolved from energy efficiency efforts of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its own laboratory facilities during the mid-1990s. These initial efforts formed the basis to challenge the accepted “hands-off” and conservative approach to lab design and engineering for energy efficiency. The initiative gained momentum politically leading to an Executive Order in 1999 requiring federal laboratories and other high technology US government facilities to implement energy efficiency improvements.
Labs21 grew as a partnership program within government, spreading into US industry and academia. Now having gained a strong level of participation nationally, the program is attracting many international governments and organizations to share their experiences and interests. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) partnered with the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) to meet this international interest and help expand the goals of Labs21.

I2SL is now the vehicle through which Labs21 goals and partnerships are developed internationally promoting the exchange of knowledge and experiences in laboratory design, engineering and operations leading to energy efficient and environmentally sustainable practices. I2SL believes the international concern for energy and environmental sustainability requires global partners to ensure these and other high technology facilities are designed and operated to address these objectives. This presentation will review the Labs21 program, the activities of I2SL, and continue building the partnership between the US EPA/DOE and Public Works and Government Services Canada.

June 23 Opening Keynote

Modernizing Research Facilities: Experiences of a Researcher and Administrator

Nils O. Petersen, Director General, National Institute for Nanotechnology, National Research Council Canada, Professor of Chemistry, University of Alberta

Research and innovation requires increasingly complex facilities that need to respond to rapidly changing needs of the researcher, to recognize the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the work being done, and to accommodate the dynamic of working with multiple private sector partners. In this presentation Nils Petersen will highlight some of the challenges and opportunities associated with both major renovations of existing facilities and building of new laboratory facilities. The comments will reflect his opinions as a researcher as well as an administrator, and will build of his experiences during the complete renovations of the Chemistry Building at the University of Western Ontario; during the building of the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) at the University of Alberta campus; and with the current upgrade of high-end electron microscopy facilities at NINT. Each project presented unique challenges and outcomes for the clients – the researcher and the administrator.

June 23 Closing Keynote

EEEL, The Energy, Environment, Experiential Learning Project at the University of Calgary

Jim Goodwin1, Jon Greggs2, Tim McGinn1,
1Cohos Evamy
2University of Calgary

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 endeavors. 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.