Program

The largest source of a vivarium’s energy consumption and carbon emissions is the significant use of outside air to provide high air changes per hour (ACH) dilution ventilation. In the past, a prescriptive approach to ventilation in the form of a requirement of 15 to 20 ACH was a part of the CCAC guidelines making it difficult to significantly reduce the energy use in these facilities, at least in Canada. However, changes have now been made made to the CCAC guidelines in the form of a recently issued addenda that allows significant reductions in vivarium ventilation rates, and thus energy use, through the use of real time vivarium air quality monitoring and airflow control. This webinar will detail this performance based CCAC addenda and the specific approaches and requirements it lays out to reduce vivarium airflow rates as well as the air quality parameters that need to be measured and the air quality levels that need to be maintained to provide clean air conditions in a vivarium. This talk will also review one example of a technology approach that meets the new CCAC requirements in a cost-effective manner to provide significant energy savings. Some quantitative case studies of past US projects and a sample ROI analysis will also be presented.

Are the right types of fume hoods being used for the variety of experiments performed or the type of instruments being used or even the reagents being manipulated? Do we even know what is “going on” in our fume hoods? This needs to be thoroughly assessed and properly understood if we are to promote SAFETY and the WELL-BEING of personnel in our Canadian lab environments.

For many years now, our European colleagues have adopted an interesting approach, using adequate types of fume hood based on the application(s) at hand. The EN 14175 standard clearly defines the necessity and requirements for “Special Application” fume hoods. This approach is seldomly considered in Canada as our standards and guidelines do not accurately address this important topic. The European lab design requirements do.

The requirement of a fume hood to have the proper air flow pattern (fluid and thermodynamics) combined with the right selection of materials and its cleanability, are at the basis of the European philosophy.

One cannot assume that general-purpose fume hoods are the right solution for all applications. This approach is not applied to Bio Safety Cabinets, so why do we assume it for fume hoods? If we are to generalize and assume that all applications are the same, then how can we ensure and promote safety? We are fooling ourselves if we believe that such an approach is just.

So, is this the reason why we have a tendency to prescribe such high flow rates for general-purpose fume hoods without adequately testing them? We must also ask ourselves if the proper containment testing procedures are being used and which guidelines or resources are available? Not a simple task…

With multiple fume hood designs available today, we could now asses what is required and validate which type of hood to use for the application.

This and other related topics are to be discussed in this during this presentation.

Collaboration; Flexibility; Sustainable; Net Zero; Carbon Footprint;

All key buzzwords that are utilized in everyday discussions when considering new builds and refurbishing laboratories. But what do they really mean and how do they really impact the way labs are planned, designed, built and of course used? Or is it just marketing hype with no real time benefits to the user?

This paper will cover brief explanations to the meanings of each 5 key topics and how selecting materials to ensure the requisites of carbon neutrality and sustainability are met.

Following on from the summary explanations, we will then take a closer look at cross section of projects that are currently being planned, implemented or recently built – with the thoughts of flexibility, collaboration, sustainability etc in mind.

These projects will be highlighted from a manufacturing perspective, taking a closer look at how it is incumbent upon us as an industry to help ensure those requirements are met and exceeded. Therefore, how can lab planners, architects and users be sure the materials selected meet the sustainability issue without deviating from its core purpose? How should the industry be helping drive change?

Our presentation will then conclude with an overview on how industry can help drive and not hinder the progression towards more sustainable, flexible and net zero workspaces.

The CBS project is designed as a bold gesture: a transparent facade that wraps around the central processing facility – reflecting an open and transparent process that fosters collaboration, integrity and respect. The transparent facade is anchored by a stone entrance contrasting the glass massing of the building allowing light and nature to engage with its occupants. The form and materiality of this bold gesture will make tangible the optimism and confidence and excellence in delivering service. We will show through a case study of the finished building how this project was designed for the people and of the people showing examples, design initiatives, user process that achieved a significant building for the Canadian Blood Services.

Learning Objectives
Learn, explore, obtain, describe, etc.
1. Explore the design challenges that come with designing a laboratory space to best practices and GMP processes.
-We will walk through the entire design process from site selection to detailed layouts of both the processing area and the administration area. We will review design objectives and client requirements and how our design responded to the clients requests
2. Learn about how our design creates a quality of Space building on WELL design principles.
– The importance of light and transparency will be discussed and reviewed. We will detail how the design responds to the users and how our design enhances to user experience. We will review WELL Design Principles and how they applied to the building.
3. Gain in-depth insight into 2 case studies focusing on the Laboratory / Processing component and the Social/ Administrative component of the building.
– Reviewing the building as a whole will lead to the socialized areas of the facilities. We will review the exacting requirements and standardization in process within the Processing area and also run through the social aspects of the building, its site and the surrounding environment.

Over the years, energy component of P3 contracts have become more and more stringent. As they usually are performance contract-pain/gain share, Energy Manager within this framework has to always be in constant pursuit of opportunities to reduce energy usage without compromising space requirement. Implementing energy conservation measures requires detailed review of existing design to establish the rationale behind certain specifications and seeking opportunities to fine-tune them so as to optimize energy consumption.
In this presentation, we will be sharing our experience on little to no cost approach we used in improving the performance of the P3 Health care facilities we run. Our presentation would cover all the conservation measures we implemented ranging from fine-tuning the heat recovery mechanism and low pressure steam humidifier performance to chiller sequencing. We will also cover measurement and verification of the savings achieved from the implementation.
Also, we plan to share our approach in persuading key stakeholders involved to allow testing implementation of ideas could result in energy savings.

As Canada moves towards a carbon neutral and net zero model for all buildings, a new method of evaluating critical design elements needs to be developed which incorporates the synergistic impact of the adopted technologies. HVAC design and the associated technologies must be viewed as a whole and not as individual contributors towards our goal of energy reduction. This presentation will provide a frame work for owners, engineers and architects to be able to understand and evaluate various technologies and the impact they will have on the their entire HVAC system. When applied correctly the content of this presentation will allow for capital cost neutral or cost reduced facilities in medium to large renovations as well as new construction. A case study will be provided to illustrate the applicability in one of the worst possible climates for Net-Zero.

How does high-quality, contemporary laboratory design fit within a renovation context? As a multi-disciplinary team including Architects, Mechanical Engineers, and Lab Specialists based in Canada, we share our expertise of the value of pre-design and how it relates to standardization of complex user requirements in order to achieve project goals.

Explore the role of the Pre-Design process in sustainable renovations of complex laboratory design, including practical tips on how to use this process to structure the client’s investment, standardize laboratory layouts while still responding complex user requirements and to achieve advanced sustainability objectives.

The objective of this presentation is to share best practices and learnings regarding incorporating technology into laboratories where normal energy conservation measures present a challenge due to the facilities stringent climatic requirements. The value of utilizing IoT technology such as submeters and energy management dashboards in these facility types will be highlighted, as will the energy conservation measures which were discovered and implemented through this work at Krembil Discovery Tower. The environmental impact, as well as the operational impact will be discussed.

A laboratory ventilation system can be broken down into three parts: the fresh air supply, the conditioning components (e.g., temperature, humidity, and filtration), and the exhaust system. The fresh air supply and conditioning systems account for approximately 60% of the ventilation system energy consumption and have been the focus of laboratory designers for the last several decades.
Unfortunately, energy-saving opportunities for the exhaust system are often overlooked, even though these systems account for the remaining 40% of the ventilation system’s energy consumption (and about 30% of the laboratory building’s total energy consumption). This presentation examines a strategy that can safely reduce the exhaust system’s energy consumption by at least 50%.

The University of Windsor Science Research and Innovation Facility project is a new three storey building which became operational in late 2018. NORR and HPA worked closely with the Users to understand their day to day experiments, procedures and needs. While developing a consistent design, we implemented specific Laboratory bench configurations, base cabinetry, services, materials and space allocations in order to customize each Lab to the Users’ needs. At the Design meetings, the Professors and specialists would review their portion of the space and we would guide them into achievable solutions which worked with the overall design. Concepts such as: natural light, high ceilings, open/ integrated Labs, accessibility, safety (duct welding), wood elements at common areas, Energy efficiency, durability and intuitive wayfinding were all addressed and incorporated into the design, which have resulted in an optimized experience.

At the end of our presentation, we will connect the concepts described above to the most relevant WELL/ Sustainable principles such as: Evidence Based, Resilient, Customer focused and Technically robust design, and how these can successfully be integrated to specific technical requirement of future Laboratory projects in order to enhance their habitability, which will surely result in a higher productivity and results.

According to WELL v2, “the WELL Air concept aims to ensure high levels of indoor air quality across a building’s lifetime through diverse strategies that include source elimination or reduction, active and passive building design and operation strategies and human behavior interventions.”
This presentation explores how this concept can be used to guide a definition of “acceptability” for a mechanical laboratory ventilation system. Safe dispersion of exhaust with potentially high chemical concentrations is often referred to in the context of meeting occupational health-based exposure criteria, but this approach may fail to account for other detractors from air quality such as odours, or long-term exposure. Additionally, these criteria vary widely for different chemicals. Ultimately, achieving safe, effective, and energy-efficient dispersion of laboratory exhausts involves a broad array of considerations, all of which can impact the wellness of laboratory users, and the flexibility of the laboratory to accommodate changes in use over its lifespan. Designing a highly robust exhaust system provides more flexibility, but can come at a high cost in terms of energy and aesthetics. Conversely, a system that is highly energy efficient may put significant onus on human behaviour interventions to ensure controls are used effectively and protocols adhered to.
This presentation will explore the challenges of characterizing risk from laboratory activities, how these risks influence the potential for energy use reduction, and how these issues can potentially be overcome without over-designing exhaust systems. By developing a better understanding of the types and intensity of chemical use, along with the wellness of the laboratory users and neighbouring populations, more information becomes available on the applicability of various benchmarks for achieving “good” dispersion of the exhaust. Three theoretical case studies will be presented to illustrate these concepts: a research-intensive clean room, an undergraduate teaching laboratory, and a small diagnostics laboratory tenant in a multi-use urban building. Participants will be guided through key aspects of each case study that illustrate different control strategies and the trade-offs between efficiency, flexibility, and cost with respect to the laboratory exhaust system design while ensuring the wellness of laboratory users and their neighbours.

As more than 61 million Gen Zers will make up approximately one-fifth of the workforce by 2021, the pressure is on for labs to transform their outdated spaces into the future labs of tomorrow. Unfortunately, many of today’s labs continue to rely on outdated practices.

Attendees of this session will learn how IoT-based methodologies can intelligently combine the control and management of heating, cooling, ventilation, containment, lighting, and daylighting into a single platform to provide greater occupant comfort, workspace flexibility, and lab safety and performance. Monitoring and assessing data analytics for labs provides visibility into performance, thereby optimizing operations, reducing downtime, and contributing to safety and compliance efforts and a reduction in energy consumption.

Key Takeaways:

> Identify the variety of ways that current and future scientists’ and lab workers’ activities and policies influence energy consumption in a facility.
> Recognize different aspects of room infrastructure, HVAC, lighting, and daylighting and review the latest technologies for their control and management.
> Show how the Intelligent Infrastructure supports compliance with WELL standards and improves the experience for building occupants.
> Walk through examples of using new technologies, and new ways of using old technologies, to improve interaction of lab occupants and building systems to deliver safe and efficient buildings.
> Learn how analytic services for labs can provide a systematic, preventive maintenance approach for lab ventilation and sash management.
> Understand how to use data specifically to identify the critical fume hoods and lab spaces that require continuous monitoring.
> How lab managers can gain lab transparency, visibility and guidance for lab optimization strategies, equipment maintenance, and services to improve lab performance.

The purpose of presentation is to showcase a responsive design approach supporting programmatic and functional requirement in achieving energy efficiency, while balancing competing needs for an allegorical framework in articulating architectural forms, building elements and relationship to each other.

This case study driven session brings to light the consonance and dissonance found between many high-performance building objectives; ultimately highlighting the paradoxical challenge of green building design.

This presentation is to share the challenges associated with the conversion of an old convent building into a state-of-the-art research centre for a Montreal Hospital and to demonstrate how it was possible to repurpose the building while keeping the user experience and quality of the space as the main focus.

Completed in 2018, the new Georgia’s Cancer Center’s M. Bert Storey Research Building at Augusta University is an integrated research facility with both research and clinical care capabilities. This facility was envisioned to meet Augusta University’s goals to create a single, comprehensive cancer center to decrease operating/capital cost and improve patient care.

The $42.5 M (USD) expansion, added 80,562 gsf of labs, vivarium, and offices, and connected existing research and clinical building with an elevated office block. The project was designed to leverage existing circulation, amenities, and utilities, and create new shared amenities to avoid duplication and bring operational efficiencies. The sustainability goals of the project were based on Georgia Peach Green Building Certification. The purpose of the Georgia Peach Program is to rate and recognize buildings owned or managed by the state to optimize energy performance, promote the use of materials produced in Georgia, improve environmental quality in the state, protect the state’s natural resources and reduce the burden on the state’s water supply.

The presentation will focus on the correlation between sustainability and wellness in a research facility. The various design features of the project including daylight, transparency, safety, collaboration, flexibility, adaptability, accessibility, space sharing, etc. are related to the determinants of wellness such as air, water, comfort, light, fitness, nourishment and mind. The laboratory design was based on the functional and technical requirements of the process and equipment, and quality of design was based on the various factors include durability, adaptability, energy efficiency and safety. The presentation will also include a collaboration model that was adopted to enable participation between key stakeholder to successfully deliver the project.

There is often great energy savings potential associated with retrofitting existing constant volume laboratory exhaust systems in existing laboratories. However, there is always concern that such a retrofit will significantly impact the ongoing science in these existing laboratories. Often these labs are heavily used and any down time comes at an extreme premium. Therefore, there may be reluctance to consider the retrograde even if the energy savings potential is significant. The objective of this presentation is to describe the process involved in the upgrade of an existing CAV exhaust system by implementing a VAV exhaust system into an existing operating laboratory with minimal or no down time within the lab and showcase the energy savings of such upgrade. Two successful projects at Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia will be used as examples.

The goal of the proposed testing laboratory project was to create a patient focused “globally competitive, high quality, fully integrated, innovative, and sustainable laboratory system to enable patients and providers to achieve the best health care outcomes.”  The laboratory would be a work place, a teaching and learning environment, and a research facility, designed for knowledge worker innovation and wellness. The ability to recruit and retain the best technologists, laboratory specialists and physicians, would be enhanced by a design that improves collaboration and worker wellness including mental, physical and social health.

The laboratories were central to the design since they are designed for high volume, high through-put analysis of patient tests.  Laboratory functionality, adaptability, flexibility and safety were vital to the success of the project. The facility mechanical design had to be adaptable to the functional changes that would occur over the life of the facility including new and emerging diagnostic technologies. Resiliency was critical for this project and head end equipment had to have N+1 redundancy.

The heating and cooling plant strategy needed to balance heating and cooling energy throughout the seasons.  The project location is in Edmonton, a heating dominated Climate 7 zone, however with the high equipment and receptacle load the laboratory space often required cooling year-round. A high number of air changes also results in fan power, air pre-heating, and cooling being the highest contributors to energy use instead of the envelope. Multiple heat recovery strategies were investigated and implemented, including harvesting heat rejected from laboratory freezers and process equipment.

The requirement for laboratory resiliency dictated life safety and standby power generation in excess of minimum code.  This led to a decision to pursue natural gas generation instead of diesel-fueled standby generation.  Mechanically, natural gas generation led to pursuit of a cogeneration plant to generate useful heat for the building and lower greenhouse gas generation compared to the utility.  This led to further mechanical changes to use the heat rejected all year such as incorporation of an absorption chiller.

This presentation will show how the main mechanical heating and cooling design evolved significantly between initial schematic and the final design.  We will describe how the project benefits when mechanical engineers are flexible in incorporating new strategies and equipment into their initial design. Discussions with the other disciplines, the owner’s facilities team, the client project manager, completing a life cycle analysis and adjusting for budget constraints all influenced the overall design.

The Mohawk College Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation (Architects: McCallum Sather & B+H Architects, Principal-in-Charge: Kevin Stelzer) is the Fennell Campus new teaching and research engineering lab. It is a full net-zero energy performance facility, one of the largest in the country (96,000 ft2). It recently garnered CaGBC Zero Carbon Framwork certification and The 2019 Innovation in Architecture award from the RAIC.

This presentation will outline how the design team partnered with the College to make critical alignments between sustainability goals and academic goals. At the outset, the design team prepared an innovative benchmarking and energy budgeting analysis to establish early frameworks to ensure the net-zero energy performance target was achieved.

The new Academic Health Science Building is a leading edge construction that uses the latest technology to operate better while being more environmentally friendly and providing an optimal environment for its occupants.
The Academic Health Sciences Building posed several technical and operations challenges as it houses several types of spaces including large laboratories with fume hoods, live animal are areas, teaching areas and offices and meeting spaces. In order to ensure all the occupants well-being while remaining efficient and energy wise, several technologies and systems had to be streamlined and harmonised to work as single unit.
The process started early in the design phase: A collaborative design strategy was used where all key stakeholders were brought together to identify their needs and concerns to create an ideal environment from the start rather than dealing with occupant needs as an afterthought. The team included the architects, two M&E design firms, animal care specialists, user group representatives, Carleton project management and operational staff and Regulvar. As a team, this group was able to define user needs and select innovative solution that would meet these requirements within the project’s timeframe and budget.
The technical challenges in deploying the automation systems in Academic Health Sciences was to put together numerous complex components while making everything simpler and more intuitive for the occupants to use. This building in fact, has more sensors, more networks, advanced lighting control systems, extensive sub metering, state of the art lab controls, automatic shade controls and complex HVAC strategies but is put together to run itself with minimal intervention and can be easily operated from a single interface with very simple interventions.
Each occupant’s space can be tailored to maintain the temperature and lighting levels they want while optimizing energy usage. Also the environment is more closely monitored (Humidity, CO2, occupancy) in order to provide conditions that are optimal for everyone’s well-being.
Not only human well-being had to be considered for this building, animal care areas required special consideration that included lighting controls for various colours and levels on an irregular day cycle. The ventilation for animal care was also harmonized to the lighting, so ventilation rates will follow occupancy requirements automatically as well as respond to gas detection in key areas. This was brought to an automated interface that lab operators can easily use to monitor of change conditions.
The well-being and long term engagement in this building is ensured by the departments of Engineering and Architecture. A group of graduate students is using the Academic Building as an ongoing research project to optimize control strategies in the building. The innovative approaches they use make the building operate more efficiently and more in line with occupant behavior, giving people what they actually need as space conditions rather than what has been dictated by conventional guidelines.
The tools and technologies provided are permitting the University with staff and Grad students to evolve the operations within the building for better energy management as well as occupant well-being.

The York University Farquharson Life Sciences Building was transformed from an outdated 50-year-old, historically listed laboratory building into modern state of the art research and teaching facility through a carefully planned, strategic renovation. 40% of the building remained operational while three floors of the facility went through a major renovation and significant building system upgrades. The redesigned laboratories address social sustainability through the configuration of open labs and significant shared gathering space; enhanced building performance through reduced energy consumption; and reduced waste throughout the design process and construction through the use of BIM, Pull Planning, LEAN and IPD.

The case study will provide an in-depth understanding of the project, challenges and lessons learned, with focus on
• How the project set and met sustainability goals
• Respecting and utilizing the historically listed building while completely transforming building interior
• How we achieved a socially sustainable science community with open laboratories and collaboration spaces
• How BIM and IPD were utilized to aid design process and achieve sustainable targets throughout a complex renovation

With remarkable recent experience in Laboratory design for multinational Healthcare facilities and institutions, NORR understands that present day and future Laboratories need to account for Sustainability and Well-being, while meeting the Scientific objectives set up in the project requirements.

Our presentation will focus on a recently developed Laboratory project, selected amongst many others due to its specific focus on key concepts such as: Users’ experience, Flexibility, Safety, Accessibility, Efficiency and Durability. We will provide specific examples, through descriptions and graphics on how each of these concepts were addressed.

Regarding Wayne State University Stem Innovation Center, located in Detroit, MI, the project consists of an existing seven storey facility, fully renovated to incorporate Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Engineering and Physics Laboratories. During the planning stages, NORR had interactive conversations with each of the Users who are also experts on the subjects they teach and research. The new lab design responded and adapted to the existing building conditions, and focused on an integrated design concept including: flexibility, natural light, innovative flooring design, consistent colour palette, proper ventilation, durable materials, compartmentalized substances and flammables. Particular design solutions were also necessary in order to respond to specific needs including: specialized equipment, movable benches, AV requirements, chemicals and materiality. This building is scheduled to achieve LEED Silver certification.

At the end of our presentation, we will connect the concepts described above to the most relevant WELL/ Sustainable principles such as: Evidence Based, Resilient, Customer focused and Technically robust design, and how these can successfully be integrated to specific technical requirement of future Laboratory projects in order to enhance their habitability, which will surely result in a higher productivity and results.

Research and laboratory environment are complex and challenging when it comes to decarbonizing their operation. These type of infrastructure are energy intensive, and they are typically designed and operated to deliver on science programs in a safe manner. As a result, achieving a low carbon operation presents its own specific challenges. The federal science departments are however included in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and must meet the carbon reduction targets.

This presentation will cover NRCan’s past successes and future plans to meet its carbon reduction goals:
– Key laboratory success stories (case study on an Energy Performance Contract)
– Carbon reduction opportunities at the portfolio and at the facility level (findings from two Carbon Neutral Studies)
– Addressing the engagement challenge: science programs, real property and environmental priorities

The objective of this presentation is to identify contemporary sustainable features that focus on providing science learning environments that not only align with advances in pedagogy but are focus on the comfort, health and wellbeing of students and educators using a sustainable design approach.