Lab Trends for the Next Five Years: The next generation of laboratories built in the U.S. face a series of challenges - both economic and user-driven

摘要

What types of laboratories will be built within the next five years? What will drive these projects? What will their most dominant features be? The outcome to each of these items may very well be dictated by a series of trends driving the current laboratory design climate. Overall, there is less funding for research buildings now than in the late 1990s. The recession meant less tax revenue for public capital projects. Companies with lower earnings are less prone to embrace large capital projects. The pharmaceutical industry has slowed or stopped its expansion of its R&D workforce. New federal funds are being redirected toward biodefense and homeland security and chargeback rates for federal research grants have drawn more scrutiny. The bottom line: Capital approval for a lab, public or private, is now harder to obtain. Consequently, lab projects have become a lot more selective and increasingly cost-conscious. But cost-effective strategies, particularly in energy consumption, are being worked in. Just-right-sized mechanical systems are now being designed with lower HVAC requirements. User equipment electrical loads are also being challenged and features, such as operable windows in office zones and recirculation of lab air for local cooling, are back in fashion.