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From Obstacles to Opportunities: How One Vivarium
Became Both a Good Work Environment And a Good Steward of the Environment
Margaret Montgomery,
AIA, LEED® AP, NBBJ
The new Medical College of Georgia Cancer Research Center includes
a containment vivarium that will house 40,000 mice, a small barrier
suite within the vivarium, and an ABSL-3 research suite. Site conditions
led us to weigh the potential advantages and disadvantages of locating
the vivarium on the fifth floor. The final decision to do so enabled
a series of benefits to building staff and facilities maintenance
over time. These included optimizing flexibility, ease of access
to HVAC, efficient functional layout and enhanced work conditions
for staff. The floor was laid out in a way that echoes the organizational
scheme of the wet lab floors, and daylight provides continual orientation
for staff.
In selecting equipment for the vivarium, preference
was given to options that provided the best water conservation,
energy efficiency and staff support. A new cage washing system was
proposed, and vivarium staff visited a working installation to become
comfortable with its performance.
Working in vivarium facilities on campus has traditionally
not been a highly sought-after position. Between the repetitive,
labor intensive and fairly unpleasant cage changing task and the
basement level space, not much was offered to encourage performance
or retention of staff. By focusing on daylight and work environment,
selecting efficient equipment and involving staff in the decisions,
it is our hope that this facility will help to retain trained staff,
provide better animal care and enable vivarium managers to focus
on higher-value tasks. The efficiency of the equipment will, if
it tests out over time as intended, allow for expansion to a second
building without increasing the cage washing capacity.
Labs21 Connection:
Equipment selection is sometimes overlooked as an opportunity for
energy and water savings when specifiers and institutions have pre-existing
assumptions or preferences. This project broadened the field of
consideration, while at the same time narrowing the filters. Class
1 equipment specifications required that submittals include energy
and water consumption figures for comparison. Where ENERGY STAR®
equipment exists, the requirement was included in the specification.
Suggestions were formulated and recommended to researchers for consideration
in departmental purchasing. The "basis of design" products
used in specification were chosen for energy and water efficiency,
and most of the products ultimately followed the desired direction.
Major equipment, most specifically the cage washer, was chosen
for both energy and water efficiency and for its potential operational
efficiencies. In the case of the cage washer, it was unfamiliar
to the users, and a visit to an existing installation was necessary
for them to understand the full potential. Some equipment was sole-sourced
even though it had potentially higher capital cost, based on the
operational, energy and water savings potential it evidenced. Although
the equipment was procured through the College's purchasing department,
this was possible by showing justification on operational grounds.
Biography:
Margaret Montgomery, AIA, LEED AP, is a key proponent of
sustainable and regenerative design at NBBJ. Throughout her 22 years
as an architect, her experience has spanned a variety of project
types, but always with a view to environmental sensitivity. As a
part of NBBJ's Science and Education practice, Margaret is currently
focused on devising sustainable research environments for the future.
She takes a holistic approach, looking for opportunities to push
each project towards a positive outcome for both the human experience
and the ecosystem we inhabit. In this way she ensures an intrinsic
link between her work and the sustainable values that guide her
life.
Margaret is a licensed architect and LEED 2.0 accredited professional.
She often represents NBBJ at sustainable seminars across the country,
and has been active in Labs21 for several years. Her current projects
include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Headquarters and Children's
Hospital Research Campus, both in Seattle. She is particularly interested
in finding design solutions that reduce environmental burdens of
the built environment on future generations.
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