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A Center for
Research Excellence with Focus on Instructional Laboratories
Jim Jonesand Jack
Davis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Abstract:
Laboratory facilities are among the most complex and challenging
projects for facilities managers, architects, and building system
designers. The complexity is, in part, the result of demands for
functional flexibility and growing owner and occupant concerns
for Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), including health and safety
concerns and energy conservation. High levels of environmental
quality are achievable through proper design of the luminous and
sonic environments, as well as careful design and installation
of systems that impact Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Unfortunately,
for complex buildings such as laboratories the system-system and
system-occupant interactions are often not fully understood, resulting
in less than optimal design and operational solutions.
Designing for instructional laboratories presents an additional
array of challenges and issues. For example, when designing laboratories
for educational institutions, one must keep in mind that: 1) their
use may change over time, 2) they are often mixed-use spaces, 3)
reducing operating costs is extremely important for schools and
universities that often operate with fixed budgets, 4) including
Environmental Health and Safety staff in the design process is
equally important, and 5) how the sciences are taught should influence
how the building is designed.
The evaluation of these complex interactions requires a multidisciplinary
team with both the research skills and vision to comprehensively
evaluate alternatives and propose solutions for Labs for the 21st
century. With this in mind, this paper presents a proposed structure
for a Center for Research Excellence and a research team with a
focus on Instructional Laboratories. In addition to a wide range
of research skills, the Center would include research facilities
that allow for a variety of research methodologies. The Center
would be located within a research university or universities and
have the full support of the university(ies) to study existing
laboratory situations and evaluate the efficacy of proposed new
design and operating strategies.
Participation by a school of engineering would be desirable to
evaluate systems performance, while involvement by a school of
architecture would allow for design alternatives to be studied.
Other disciplines such as educators, behavioral scientists and
finance would contribute. The research agenda for the Center would
be based on input from various stakeholders concerned with instructional
labs. Support for the Center would be through funded research as
well as through corporate partnerships.
Biography:
Jim Jones, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the College of
Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech. Professor Jones
holds a Master of Architecture and Ph.D. from the College of Architecture
and Urban Design at the University of Michigan. In addition to
providing graduate level instruction in the areas of Environmental
Building Systems, Resource Conservation and Sustainable Design
and Systems Integration, Dr. Jones has over 15 years of research
experience using computer simulation, experimental analysis techniques
and field monitoring of subjects related to Resource Conservation,
Indoor Environmental Quality, environmental sensing and monitoring,
whole building performance assessment, and systems performance
assessment. He was the principal designer and developer of the
Indoor Environmental Quality Lab at North Carolina A&T State
University as well as the Wall Assembly Thermal Test System at
the Building Technology Laboratory in the University of Michigan.
He has published over 40 technical papers related to the subjects
concerned with building performance and systems-occupant interactions.
In addition to degrees in architecture he holds a minor in Applied
Statistics.
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