Articles:
This is a revolution.
Office buildings that already provide these facilities may be more cost-effective overall..Complications can arise where elevators, corridors, and external areas used to store or transport critical, sensitive, expensive, hazardous, or large volumes of materials are then shared with office or other lab tenancies.
In some cases these issues will be covered by regulations and can therefore impact health and safety or quality compliance.Further considerations include containment and contamination control, building security and opening times (e.g.for 24/7 lab operations), shared lab functions (e.g.
washrooms or stores), and IP sensitivities – with the size and type of life science business or tenant a driving factor in how these are managed.In all cases, a lab design should be developed as soon as possible, with material and personnel flows and relevant zonings mapped out across all lab and common areas to identify any potential issues.. 8.
Existing office buildings may struggle to accommodate more onerous laboratory fire and egress requirements.. A lab will most likely contain more flammable or hazardous materials and sources of ignition than an office.
In most cases this can be addressed with special storage cabinets, fume cabinets, and good housekeeping.Alternatively, a national circular economy should be developed to enable the sharing of good quality reused products..
Many structural elements, such as steel beams or concrete prefabricated floor slabs, have a life expectancy which far outlasts a building’s lifespan.By knowing these products are going to waste through the demolition of existing buildings, designers can incorporate these components into their design from the outset, using fewer new natural resources and raw materials..
Instead of breaking components into smaller pieces and recycling the individual materials, reusing a component in its primary form has a higher value for sustainable construction.It results in fewer modifications, and less manufacturing and construction.