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Green Smarts for Small Parts: Applying Sustainable
Design to Nanotechnology labs
David Gibney, Norm
Toussaint, PE, and Lidia Berger,
IIDA, HDR Inc.
Nanotechnology facilities can be among the most expensive to design,
to build and operate. With $3.7 billion allocated under the 21st
Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, the race to
build several of these facilities in the next decade has already
begun. Because many of these facilities are affiliated with the
U.S. Department of Energy a prevailing requirement is energy efficiency,
and concurrently, environmental stewardship. LEED™, especially
with the Application Guide for Labs, offers the single best environmental
design tool designers and owners have to achieve these collective
goals.
Using data gleaned from three nanotechnology facility projects
that are pursuing LEED™ certification, this presentation will
provide a distilled look at the multi-faceted challenges of nanotechnology
lab design and how LEED™ is best used to pursue environmental
goals. Our presentation will provide an overview of the extraordinary
resource consumption of lab facilities, identification of key design
and operation opportunities to curb this consumption, and how LEED™
is effective (and when it is not) in guiding this process. Key lessons
learned will be presented, giving the participants a "heads
up" for what to expect, and what to ask for, when embarking
down the LEED™ path.
Findings:
- Nanotechnology research laboratories have very distinct performance
requirements compared to other lab facilities. For example, cleanrooms
and high accuracy temperature controlled labs require significant
ventilation rates and humidification/dehumidification capabilities.
- Nanotechnology facilities are "mission critical";
environmental stewardship is often a second or third tier factor.
- Some performance characteristics of labs can make LEED™
Certification difficult.
- Despite the often stringent HVAC criteria, there can be significant
opportunities to reduce energy consumption if user groups and
designers consider energy efficiency as an integral goal from
the beginning of programming.
- Most efficiency gains for both water and energy usage do not
add significant first cost.
- LEED™ can add cost to a project but these costs can be
accurately budgeted and controlled.
- The Application Guide for Labs is a sound adjunct criteria to
add to lab design and operation but needs significant articulation
in terms of requirements and benchmarking.
Labs21 Connection:
Our design approach is best described as an "outward-in; inward-out"
process. Rather than a typical linear process, we form mini-teams
of designers and end users to discuss program requirements and potential
solutions. Once these groups embrace key strategies, they meet with
other mini-teams to review design synergies and potential conflicts,
pursuing a "whole building" approach. LEED™ is implemented
as an assessment tool, with the Application Guide for Labs voluntarily
woven into the process.
Our design strategy is commensurate with the Labs21 Approach:
- Minimize overall environmental impacts: Local/regional
materials are specified for all lab projects. An aggressive construction
waste management plan is implemented, with impressive results.
Supplementary controls for chemical disposal are also implemented.
- Protect occupant safety: Include enhanced chemical safety,
safe egress verification, environmental monitoring and occupant
education.
- Optimize whole building efficiency on a life-cycle basis:
Key components such as scrubbers or fenestration, are evaluated
for holistic impact on functionality, efficiency, and value, with
a lifelong perspective guiding the assessment.
- Establish goals, track performance and share results for
continuous performance: Our sustainable design goals and progress
are clearly established from early program reports to final submissions.
We share "lessons learned" internally and externally,
when possible.
Biographies:
David Gibney is a Sustainable Design Project Manager for
HDR. Since joining HDR in 2000 Mr. Gibney has provided sustainable
design consultation to multiple federal agencies including the General
Services Administration, the Department of Defense, the Department
of Energy, and the National Park Service. His state agency experience
at HDR includes the California Department of General Services and
the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Mr. Gibney's laboratory experience includes both private and public
agency clients. He is currently providing sustainable design and
LEED™ coordination for Sandia National Laboratories Center
for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) in Albuquerque and the LIGA
Technologies Facility at SNL's Livermore campus. He is also the
sustainable design/LEED™ consultant for the County of Santa
Clara Forensics Lab. Each of these projects is using the LEED™
Application Guide for Labs as a design aid.
As an early Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accredited
Professional, Mr. Gibney has developed multiple LEED™ and sustainable
design training materials for HDR. He recently finished a HDR process
manual for administering LEED™. He is a finalist candidate
for the United States Green Building Council's LEED™ Application
Guide Core Committee.
Norm Toussaint, PE, is a Senior Chemical/Process Engineer
with over twenty-one years of experience. He has a long history
and deep understanding of research and manufacturing facilities
and equipment and the processes involved in each. He is able to
relate that information into the complex buildings systems and functional
requirements for nanotechnology and microelectronics facilities.
Mr. Toussaint's skills range from setting the process engineering
criteria to designing the systems for a fully functional facility.
His recent project experience includes Purdue University's Birck
Nanotechnology Center, Sandia National Laboratories' Center for
Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) and Brookhaven National Laboratory's
Center for Functional Nanomaterials. Mr. Toussaint is a LEED™
Accredited Professional.
Lidia Berger, IIDA, is a Sustainable Design Project Manager
for HDR. During her nearly 10 years of experience as a project designer
and project manager, Ms Berger has been a member of award-winning
teams on a multitude of sustainability-focused projects with clients
ranging from corporations to government agencies. Seamlessly guiding
her clients and the project team through an often complex process,
Ms Berger facilitates the process by prioritizing the goals and
directing the multi-disciplinary integrated team of experts. A committed
and knowledgeable leader in the industry, Ms Berger is a nationally
known speaker, and is noted for her leadership roles in several
industry organizations and standards. A LEED™ Accredited Professional,
she currently serves on the Board of Directors of the USGBC National
Capital Region Chapter. She was one of the founding members of the
Chapter in 1999.
Ms. Berger's sustainable project experience is broad. Past sustainable
design experience includes the Pentagon Athletic Center Arlington,
Virginia; Georgetown University, Washington, DC; US Fish and Wildlife
Service Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Chincoteague, Virginia;
the World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, and the International
Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. She is currently providing sustainable
design and LEED™ project management Brookhaven National Laboratory
Center for Functional Nanomaterials.
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