LEAN, BIM, LEED®, the Perfect Storm—the University of California, San Francisco's Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Laboratory Renovation
Bonnie Blake-Drucker, FAIA, LEED AP, BlakeDrucker Architects
Using the BEST VALUE Project Delivery Method, a contractor team, the University of California, the architects, the engineers, and all of the subcontractors came together on an 11,000-square-foot laboratory renovation to produce a beautiful project up for LEED for Commercial Interiors (CI) Gold, three months early, with less than $0 change orders, good feelings, cooperation, and 47 percent less lineal feet of utility piping than any other laboratory in this pair of 16-floor, high-rise research floors. This is a tale of forced adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM), deep diving into lean construction, and vigilance over every scrap of material taken out or put into the job. Over 88 percent of waste was diverted from landfills; all spaces where research will not be impeded have access to daylight and view. Materials are high in recycled content, water use is reduced by over 40 percent, paperless processes during construction saved trees, and virtual meetings lowered this project's carbon footprint. The presentation will share the lessons learned from this "perfect storm."
The "perfect storm" or the "trifecta:" HSE 15 is a story of a long design process that has resulted in extraordinary sustainable design, from material choices for the content, the manufacturing distance from the job, and ultimately the footprint. It is a story of a process that began with an architect who is known for coordination, doing the documents in a 3D BIM model, and a university that set a high bar by using Best Value Questionnaire looking for experienced contractors in BIM/virtual modeling, LEED, and lean projects as well as in laboratory renovations; it continued with a contractor that took all of this very seriously. This project's successes are exceptional for any project, much less a renovation, a laboratory, and one on the Parnassus campus.
Biography:
Bonnie Blake-Drucker, LEED AP, is principal with BlakeDrucker Architects, Oakland, California. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Her design practice has focused on the design of sustainable (and accessible) laboratories. Her work is primarily for university research in fields as different as nanotechnology and human embryonic stem cells.
Her design for a tissue and cell biology laboratory was the first laboratory renovation to receive LEED CI Certification. Ms. Blake-Drucker, who holds a Master of Science degree, is a former researcher herself, combines this unique question-asking, invention, and innovation that has been the hallmark of her work for the past 27 years.