NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 61

EDUCATIONAL OCCUPANCIES HIGH-RISE UNIVERSITY LABS with, particularly in operating laboratory facilities, which depend on numerous building systems to maintain a safe environment. Essential systems such as laboratory ventilation and fume hood exhaust must be maintained while labs are in operation, and as a result preplanned shutdowns may be required to incorporate changes to existing exhaust systems. NFPA 45 requires laboratory operations to be suspended when laboratory exhaust ventilation is out of service. Other building systems such as fire sprinkler systems and fire alarm systems must have robust impairment plans in place where construction activities may require outages. Coordinating these outages with researchers is key so that they can ensure that ongoing experiments are not interrupted and critical equipment can be brought back online as soon as possible. For example, scheduling an outage for a Friday or Saturday night may seem like a good way to take advantage of downtime in the building, but this may require research teams to come in over the weekend after the outage to ensure that critical equipment is back online and running. It is also critical to be prepared for unplanned outages that may arise over the course of construction. How the construction team will respond to bringing systems back online, what actions lab users must take, and whether any temporary protective measures will be required are all questions that should be addressed beforehand. A prime example of these complications is the testing of the building automation system and emergency power transfer testing that was conducted after the finish out of the research laboratory space. As laborato- Photograph: Getty Images ry facilities become more complex, it's not uncommon for issues to arise when conducting testing on buildings that rely on the interconnection and automation of so many systems. The university and the project team were well aware that unforeseen issues could possibly arise over the course of this testing and scheduled a building-wide outage to conduct the testing. This outage had to be coordinated with building users and several research teams to ensure that any hitches in the testing would not endanger any occupants or their research. It was a good thing these precautions were taken. Over the course of the testing, it was discovered that the building HVAC and laboratory exhaust systems under emergency power were out of balance, with the laboratory exhaust running at nearly full power and the building HVAC supply greatly reduced. This created a severe under-pressurization of the laboratory units, where it became nearly impossible to operate the doors. If this were not tested or if the laboratories had been in use at the time of the testing, occupants could have been potentially trapped in the laboratories under hazardous conditions. Multiple rounds of testing were ultimately required to fully iron out the operation of the building automation system and emergency functionality, each one requiring coordination of building-wide outages. The process was a good example of the value of building commissioning and of NFPA 3, Recommended Practice for Commissioning of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems, and NFPA 4, Integrated Fire Protection and Life Safety System Testing. These outages were only a few of the many that have occurred over the few years of the building's operation, with electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and other work associated with new construction and renovations requiring at least partial shutdowns of the building's systems and operations. Each outage required a new round of coordination with researchers and other building users to ensure the safety of all occupants and the protection of the important research being conducted throughout the building. As the practice of scientific research and trends in building construction continue to change, design teams and AHJs must be able and willing to adapt to this fast-changing environment. While features such as modular construction components and dedicated flammable liquid storage rooms may add cost and complexity to a project at initial construction, they can pay off with dividends further on in the life of the building when changes and modifications are needed to accommodate future research. The novel design features and lessons learned from the NHB project have had a major impact on how we approach the design and construction of future lab facilities here at UT Austin. This approach to laboratory design was born out of a collaboration between all project stakeholders with a range of complex and sometimes competing goals. Whether or not these design principles are appropriate for other institutions or facilities, the discussions and collaborations at the heart of the NHB design process should be an integral part of the design process for any laboratory facility. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 NFPA JOURNAL 61

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016