The primary function of laboratory design is to ensure that facilities are designed and constructed to meet established safety and environmental regulations and best practices. At a conceptual level best practices trends typically involve determining how bench and lab space relate to lab support space, and how support space relates to office space.
Decisions must be made early, during the planning phase. Considerations for the particular science to be practiced in the building and can an existing building handle the project needs. Key planning considerations include materials and consumables, security protocols, mechanical systems, and technology.
Smart Lab Design
Research universities have large carbon footprints because laboratories are energy-intensive, typically constituting two-thirds of the utilities consumed by such institutions. Therefore, reducing laboratory energy consumption is the primary way to shrink the carbon footprint of a research university.
Recently constructed laboratories possess the unexploited potential to be far more efficient without compromising occupant safety if variable-air volume features and digital controls are integrated with advanced air quality and occupancy sensors driving smarter control logic. The end goal of this concept is to reduce the ACH when conditions permit, on a space-by-space basis.