We moved into our new STEM building about six months ago, and there are so many things I've learned during the whole process. All of these comments are great and touched on
some of my thoughts as well. I would just like to add four more:
- While having glass walls is great for being able to see everything in the lab, our police department was less than pleased.
In a security emergency, glass is probably the worst option. If you are thinking glass walls (or even half walls), try to consider including automatic shades in case of emergency.
- If possible, have the contractors fully complete one lab before doing the individual parts for the whole building. If
we were given the opportunity to review a fully completed lab, many issues could have been easily avoided.
- Try to avoid occupying the building until everything has been fully completed. When things are rushed, mistakes are
made. When researchers are moving in while construction is happening, no one is happy. And when researchers are forced to have even more downtime because systems aren't working properly or their labs were built/designed wrong, the consequences will be much
greater than anticipated.
- The biggest thing to keep in mind - and I think someone mentioned this/something similar already - look very closely
at the construction documents. There were a number of changes made to the construction documents that were not on our last reviewed documents.
Good luck with the process!
--
Laboratory Safety Coordinator, CAS/RSENR
UVM's Risk Management and Safety
Environmental Safety Facility
802-656-0872
From:
ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU> on behalf of Monona Rossol <0000030664c37427-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU>
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 7:45 PM
To: "DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU" <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] New Science Building- Things to Look Out For
Terrible story. Your school needs a better General Counsel. A lot of that is actionable and should have been either fixed or damages recovered from the architect's
and the Engineering firm's insurance. No firm, not even my tiny one-man-band, can get involved in any planning project without holding a minimum of $2 million in a professional liability policy. The things you describe come under errors and omissions and
could have been recovered.
Beware of engineering firms, local architects (the architect of record rather than the designer), and contracting firms that are owned by the Brother-in-law of one
of the Trustees. That often also is a complicating factor and the reason no one is sued when there clearly is a case.
Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist
President: Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc.
Safety Officer: Local USA829, IATSE
New York, NY 10012 212-777-0062
-----Original Message-----
From: Samuella B. Sigmann <sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**APPSTATE.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Sent: Sat, Nov 18, 2017 10:29 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] New Science Building- Things to Look Out For
Our university program manager actually told us it was more important for the building to look good from the street than to function
well. We ended up with shelled in labs because they ran out of money as well as pillars in the most inconvenient places in rooms. We also lost our freight elevator. We can barely get a chromatography refrigerator in the passenger elevator.
One thing that we do have is a nice solvent/waste/tank storage room. It is anti-sparking and has a blow out panel and holding drain.
House nitrogen was a disaster. Because they did not test the system it leaked too badly from day one to use. All the money that went into that system was a waste. We have managed to isolate some rooms and use it that way.
Plan for the future. Faculty tend to be very focused on what they are doing at the moment and not think about the chemistry that may be done in the space in the future. There are very few of our research spaces that are doing the same work they did initially.
That idea of having non fixed assets in the center of the room is great.
Outlets for equipment that needs to have backup up generator power (-80s for example). Drains for autoclaves and ice machines.
Someone mentioned commissioning the building. If you think this could not possibly happen, I can tell you that our building was not. Occupied in late 90s our ventilation was never balanced for the first 12 years we were in the building. Our roof has leaked
from day one. Our p-chemist actually had to keep an umbrella over his server.
Accessible and marked localized shut offs for water and gas.
S-
On 11/18/2017 7:05 AM, Monona Rossol wrote:
- Beware of the architect and his need for aesthetics which may value out the occupants needs for the building. If you get private $ as someone mentioned below, they
will be even more aggressive about what things look like and not how they function. Case in point, I fought hard for a large freight elevator that could be locked while taking chemicals reagents up and move large pieces of equipment up floors. This got "engineered"
out as the larger elevator cut into the "lines" the architect wanted going up the floors in the foyer. There was nothing about function, this was strictly aesthetic.
In theater we would say this what would happen if we were foolish enough to put the Set Designer in charge of the whole show.
Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist
President: Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc.
Safety Officer: Local USA829, IATSE
New York, NY 10012 212-777-0062
-----Original Message-----
From: Vivian L. Longacre <vlongacr**At_Symbol_Here**CALPOLY.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Sent: Sat, Nov 18, 2017 4:00 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] New Science Building- Things to Look Out For
We completed a six story science building (Chem/Biochem, Physics, Soil Science) 4 years ago. At the time I was a technician for Chem/Biochem, now in EH&S for the
campus. I was lucky enough to be included on the building committee and my opinions were valued. Some of my thoughts and struggles on the process:
- Involve the technical staff. They work in the building, do maintenance on the safety and lab equipment and know what works.
- We used a lab planner along with the architects in the initial design which helped, but there is still a large amount the lab planners do NOT know about actually
working in a lab.
- Beware of the architect and his need for aesthetics which may value out the occupants needs for the building. If you get private $ as someone mentioned below,
they will be even more aggressive about what things look like and not how they function. Case in point, I fought hard for a large freight elevator that could be locked while taking chemicals reagents up and move large pieces of equipment up floors. This
got "engineered" out as the larger elevator cut into the "lines" the architect wanted going up the floors in the foyer. There was nothing about function, this was strictly aesthetic.
- Be wary of over engineering of utilities and spaces. The lab planner and architect designed a large room for a specialized deionization system to feed the building.
This seemed way over kill to me and also something difficult to maintain as a technician. Another faculty member and I asked for other institutions that had this DI system installed and got on the phone to talk about their system and were quickly told it
had been a nightmare to maintain from the get go. We were able to get this taken out.
Safety Training Specialist, RSO
Environmental Health & Safety
Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, California
Once you're done hashing out all the building design issues, don't forget about the construction side of it.
Someone needs to keep an eye on the lowest bidder who is building it.
We've run into a couple situations where something was obviously wrong and the guys doing the work didn't want to even ask about it because ÔThat's what's on
the blueprint.'
(Don't worry, we got them to move the transformer out from directly in front of a door)
Also, don't believe them when they say they've tested something like monitoring systems.
Make sure equipment and HVAC units are installed correctly and no shortcuts have been taken.
Perfect companion piece to read. And you shouldn't have to "fight" for any of this.
Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist
President: Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc.
Safety Officer: Local USA829, IATSE
New York, NY 10012 212-777-0062
•
Appropriately sized spaces to accommodate students with disabilities (and service dogs or signers for hearing impaired students)
•
Be prepared to fight for drains for your safety showers
•
Ample storage space away from the benchtops for coats, backpacks, purses, etc.
•
Generous fume hood/bench space for each student
•
Do you require balance/instrument rooms that are separate from the labs?
•
Think about what you need in terms of data ports, AV equipment, and large monitors and their placement within the rooms
•
A desk up front for your TA and design the labs so that the TA has a clear line of sight to all of the students, if possible
•
Intercom system needed?
•
What do you need for the prep room and stockroom? Storage systems, benches, fume hoods, etc.
•
Fire suppression systems - the project manager will require your full chemical inventory for this
•
Equipment that will require special electrical outlets
•
Placement of white boards/blackboards in the labs
•
Dispensing hoods for experimental work and also for the haz waste containers in the labs
Just a few thoughts on a Friday. Feel free to contact me directly if you have additional questions. As you can tell, we went through this a few years ago to totally
renovate some labs on the Evansdale campus.
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
DCHAS Fellow - American Chemical Society
We're in the planning process for a new science building (we're a two-year community college with a strong STEM reputation and a very small informal undergrad research
program). Does anyone have any lessons learned or other recommendations as we start working with the architects when it comes to planning out our chemistry labs?
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We,
the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do everything with nothing.
Teresa Arnold paraphrased from Konstantin Josef
Jirecÿek (1854 - 1918)
Samuella B. Sigmann, MS, NRCC-CHO
Senior Lecturer/Safety Committee Chair/Director of Stockroom
A. R. Smith Department of Chemistry
Appalachian State University
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