A Sustainable Investment: The Findings of a Post-Occupancy Evaluation

Gabriela Kleiman, LEED^® AP, Crime Lab Design

Named one of the AIA Top Ten Green Projects of 2006, the Forensics Science Center for the Philadelphia Police Department is a state-of-the-art forensics laboratory facility and the first green building for the city of Philadelphia.

This previously vacant 60,000-gross-square-foot, 1920’s art-deco public school building includes criminalistics and DNA laboratories for hair, fiber, and blood analysis; chemistry laboratories for drug analysis; a crime scene unit for 24/7 crime scene evidence gathering; and a firearms unit, including a ballistics analysis shooting range.

In an extensive post-occupancy evaluation, the original sustainable design theories implemented at the Forensics Science Center are carefully analyzed. The goal is to answer the question: Were the original sustainable design theories and assumptions correct after four years of occupancy?

Biography:

Gabriela Kleiman, LEED AP, is an associate at Crime Lab Design with 13 years of experience in all phases of design, including planning studies, programming, schematic design, design development, and code review, as well as construction administration for both new construction and renovation work. She has served as laboratory planner and designer for numerous national laboratory projects within forensic and medical examiner facilities including the Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory, Phoenix Police Department Crime Laboratory, and city of Scottsdale Police Crime Laboratory/Evidence Storage Building. Gabriela has a Master of Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires.

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