NEW BUILDING FOR INTERDISCPLINARY WORK IN BIORENEWABLES

The new Biorenewables Research Laboratory (BRL) at Iowa State University is the university's hub for biorenewables research. Completed in 2010, the four-floor, 70,000-square-foot facility is the first phase of a planned three-wing complex, bringing together three primary research organizations under one roof: the NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC), the Bioeconomy Institute, and the Biobased Industry Center. The building was funded through a $32 million legislative appropriation, includes chemistry and microbiology labs for research, two large teaching laboratories, administrative and faculty offices and graduate student office areas. It also features a two-story "high bay" facility for larger, pilot-scale research projects in thermochemical biomass conversion. The university plans second phase expansion of the building once sufficient funding has been secured.

The building incorporates cost-saving, eco-friendly design elements that should qualify it for LEED gold certification. During construction 97 percent of construction waste was recycled with only 3 percent of the debris directed to landfills. Building materials were specified to contain the maximum amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content. Over 30 percent of the total building materials consist of recycled content. Because building materials can change many hands and travel great distances, a Chain of Custody form was completed for virtually every material that made its way to this project. This ensured that much of the materials came from within a 500 mile radius and were collected in a sustainable manner. Wood used in the building frame is documented from the forest, to the lumber mill, to our supplier, to our site. The same was done for metals, concrete and other materials.

The orientation of the building captures southern exposure and the resulting daylight. Incredibly, 92 percent of the spaces within the building enjoy direct exterior views. In addition to natural lighting, the building uses recyclable building materials such as the doors and cabinetry made from bamboo. The building is also equipped with a rainwater collection and storage system, and a portion of the structure has an energy-saving vegetated roof. Overall water consumption is reduced by 75 percent because of these measures. The lighting systems throughout the building utilize occupancy sensors and compact fluorescent lighting (CFLs) to make full use of natural light and to drastically reduce our need for electricity. The offices and public spaces are air conditioned by a system called a chilled beam. Chilled beams use chilled water in a series of coils that then have ducted air pushed through the coils. It uses less energy to run chilled water than conditioned air and saves money with smaller air duct work required. This is the first time this system has been used in the state of Iowa. The surrounding landscape is a combination of native prairie plantings and adaptive vegetation, which once established, will not require watering. The site also incorporates switch grasses that are examples of biomass utilized in research programs.

To learn more about this topic visit:  Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC)