Dealing with the Unique Design Requirements of Higher Education Teaching Laboratory Facilities
Robert Washburn, P.E., Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Rick Klein, NCARB, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
As Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) started planning a major upgrade to its science building, its facilities management department became aware of the Labs21 Program. Lessons learned by the department from the program became the cornerstone of efforts to build a new facility that was not only state-of-the-art, but also safe and with as small a carbon footprint as feasible. As the project developed, challenges unique to teaching laboratories and undergraduate research facilities became evident. Even the research laboratories are designed as teaching laboratories as the paradigm of undergraduate instruction moves to collaborative research.
During this presentation, the speakers will provide an overview of Labs21 techniques applied, problems unique to teaching laboratories encountered, and how they were resolved to wind up with a building that will use about 40 percent less energy than originally planned. The building will still meeting the unique health and safety requirements of an undergraduate teaching facility.
Biographies:
Robert Washburn is a professional engineer with 36 years of experience in the facilities engineering field, primarily with higher education. For the past 18 years, Mr. Washburn has been the director of facilities for SIUE.
Mr. Washburn's completed projects include one of the largest thermal storage systems in higher education in the Midwest; decentralization of the campus heating system, resulting in a 21 percent reduction in campus natural gas consumption; a performance contract which, at its time, was by far the largest ever done in the state of Illinois by a state entity; and the first application of high speed motor technology to an open drive chiller.
Rick Klein is a registered architect and currently the campus architect at SIUE. Mr. Klein is the code official on campus and responsible for both in-house design and the coordination of consulting designers on large and small university projects.
Mr. Klein has a Bachelor of Science in architectural sciences from Washington University in St. Louis, is a member of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and has been a registered architect since 1973. Mr. Klein has 31 years of experience in private architectural practice, as well as 11 years of experience as a campus architect.
Mr. Klein's private projects range from single family custom homes to K-12 schools, corporate office buildings, banks, research facilities, printing plants, and computer centers. Mr. Klein's SIUE projects include the National Corn to Ethanol Research Facility, as well as the Student Center renovation, Student Success Center, Early Childhood Center, and an addition and renovation to the Student Fitness Center.