EwingCole, a Philadelphia-based architecture and engineering company, has designed the new laboratory for the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
Its contribution in the design of the proposed laboratory was made known in the recently held groundbreaking ceremony for the project in Edgewater, Md. The project started with an investment of $45,000,000 is anticipated to be completed in 2013.
The proposed two-storey building anticipated to occupy an area of 90,000 square foot will provide research facility for over 180 researchers, students and technicians. Some of the research projects that are planned in the construction include worldwide climate change, preservation of productive fisheries, the consequences of nutrients and chemicals running through our countryside, protection of delicate woodlands and wetlands and environmental changes due to biological invasions.
In designing the building, EwingCole incorporated the design guidelines suggested for Laboratories for the 21st Century. It used energy modeling to recognize the right strategies to provide an eco-friendly design for long-term cost saving. To enable the new facility to pursue LEED Gold Certification on completion, the new building will incorporate energy saving features such as heat recovery from the exhaust air of laboratory, on demand type of ventilation systems in lab spaces, novel water preserving and storm water management systems, and a geothermal system utilizing ground source heat to manage the heating and cooling facilities inside the building.
Source: http://www.ewingcole.com/