Perpetual Water Supply
Gabriel Cervantes, AIA, HOK
Chris Kiley, Merrick & Company
The South Valley Animal Health Laboratory (SVAHL) is a 60,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art biocontainment (Biosafety Level 2 [BSL-2]/Animal Biosafety Level 2–enhanced) laboratory. Located in the heart of California's agricultural region, San Joaquin Valley, the climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and moist winters often blanketed with fog. Currently in the design phases, SVAHL is tracking as a LEED® Gold project and exceeding California's Title-24 Energy Conservation standards by 20 percent. The start of construction is scheduled for 2012.
SVAHL incorporates a plethora of sustainable features. The key sustainability feature that makes this laboratory unique for the Labs21 Community, however, is the sole sourcing of potable and non-potable water from ground water immediately below the project site, and the recharge of all effluent back to this same aquifer, thus establishing a perpetual loop for all project water needs.
The SVAHL project site, surrounded by active agricultural land use, is composed of fiveacres with no developed potable water or sanitary waste systems. In lieu of building infrastructure to connect to city-provided services, the University of California, Davis has opted to tap into an available upper aquifer for non-potable water and a lower, cleaner aquifer for potable water. A dual water system will distribute potable and non-potable water independently of each other throughout the facility. An effluent decontamination system (EDS) connected to a leech field will channel both domestic and laboratory sanitary waste back to this ground water supply. Bioswales and stormwater retention ponds are also being implemented for retaining stormwater and landscape runoff.
Additional water conservation measures include low-water plumbing fixtures, condensate recovery, water-conserving cooling towers, minimizing process water consumption, and drought tolerant species landscaping.
Noteworthy project challenges likely to provoke discussion at the Labs21 conference:
- Sourcing from, and recharging to, aquifers while simultaneously adhering to plumbing system requirements for BSL-2 as documented in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institutes of Health Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories standards, as well as EPA standards.
- Addressing community perception of recharging public ground water supply with laboratory waste.
- Evaluating decontaminating and filtering capabilities of EDS and leeching field systems with projected laboratory waste (volume and type).
- Evaluating individual laboratory equipment/tools and MEP/fire protection systems for compatibility with either potable or non-potable water.
- Safeguarding long-term availability of aquifers (quality and quantity of supply) given encroaching urbanization.
Biographies:
As the project architect and project manager of the SVAHL project, Gabriel Cervantes, LEED AP, is a California-registered architect with close to 20 years of professional experience, encompassing all project phases, with an emphasis on research and higher education facilities. For the last six years, he has been an architect with HOK; before that he was employed with Perkins + Will and ADP Flour Daniels. In addition to leading the design team on this biocontainment facility, he has recently completed projects of similar complexity, such as a nanofabrication facility for the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Cervantes is committed to the success of every project and understands that collaboration and open communication is essential, particularly given the complex programmatic requirements of research facilities. Whereas all projects that he undertakes are designed to achieve the highest levels of sustainability possible, he is ultimately in pursuit of creating net zero energy buildings for his institutional clients. Mr. Cervantes received a Bachelor of Arts in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Los Angeles, California.
As the senior mechanical engineer and project manager of the SVAHL project, Chris Kiley has over 16 years of experience in HVAC design, construction administration, and commissioning of technically complex laboratory projects and a wide range of commercial, industrial, and government facilities. Having earned a Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992, Mr. Kiley is well versed in domestic and international guidelines and standards and has focused on biological containment laboratories and animal facilities including BSL-2, BSL-3, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-4 facilities. He focuses on the application of mechanical and plumbing systems designed to protect people, products, facilities, and the laboratory environment where listed select agents and toxins are used and handled. Mr. Kiley is an expert in providing and integrating simple, cost-effective solutions to meet the highly complex requirements of these facilities. He is an active member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA).