Sustainable Design Innovation for a Unique Multi-User Facility
Ron Burstein, AIA, Studio Southwest Architects, Inc.
This presentation will showcase the unique and sustainable design features of the new $72 million, 196,000-square-foot (sq. ft.) New Mexico Scientific Laboratories (NMSL) building in Albuquerque. The project is the subject of a Labs21 2010 Annual Conference tour. This unique multidisciplinary facility is located adjacent to the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Campus in Albuquerque. When occupied during the summer of 2010, NMSL will be among the top public health laboratories of its kind in the country.
The five-story building plus penthouse is targeting LEED® Silver certification and will accommodate three state agencies—the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory Division, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture Veterinary Diagnostic Services, and the New Mexico Office of Medical Investigator. These three agencies are charged with providing specialized and capable response to public health and safety emergencies. The building also incorporates 2,600 sq. ft. of training space for staff, forensic pathology fellows, and law-enforcement personnel. The three agencies housed in the facility will occupy adjacent spaces and share common areas and utilities for increased sustainability and coordination.
NMSL will include three different types of biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) suites: veterinary medicine, human autopsy, and biological research. The human autopsy suite may be one of the largest built to date. BSL-3 suites call for high containment protocols to handle potentially lethal agents. When completed, the building will include specialty laboratory equipment such as high-performance fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, an effluent decontamination system, autoclaves, an MRI, a CT Scanner, mass spectroscopy, laboratory casework, controlled environment rooms, morgue and autopsy equipment, evidence drying cabinets, and a tissue digester system.
The design and construction team for the NMSL utilized a detailed value engineering process from design through the early stages of construction to minimize cost increase and control the budget. Building Information Modeling (BIM) was extensively used to coordinate the construction process, minimize installation conflicts and save time and money. The team utilized electronic submittal processing in order to further reduce the carbon footprint of the construction process.
This presentation will be a primer for the facility tour and will reflect the following aspects of the Labs21 approach: energy-efficient design, reduced costs through selection and design, LEED certification, and the additional energy savings requirements beyond LEED that are mandated by New Mexico for new construction of this type.
This is Part 1 of a three-part presentation.
Biography:
Ron Burstein is a principal and architect with Studio Southwest Architects, Inc., and is a graduate of the University of New Mexico having received a Master of Architecture in 1984. Mr. Burstein has extensive experience managing complex projects. During the last twenty years, these projects have included the NMSL, several occupancy phase projects for Sandia National Laboratories, a veterinary laboratory at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, clean room facilities for the GE Aircraft Engine plant in Albuquerque and the Intel fabrication plant in Chandler, Arizona as well as several projects for the Corps of Engineers. The NMSL building incorporates three BSL-3 suites, one for each agency that will be housed in the building. The largest of these suites, for the Office of the Medical Investigator, may be the first of its kind. Mr. Burstein has been active with many professional- and community-based organizations and has been president of both the local AIA and CSI chapters.