Going for the Gold
In the past year, New Orleans has shown many signs of being a city uplifted, and the changes in the city’s infrastructure and building projects have certainly been among them. The construction of the novel New Orleans BioInnovation Center promises to contribute to the city’s sense of rebirth as a state-of-the-art facility for the biotechnology industry, as well as one that is environmentally unprecedented in the city.
“One thing that’s truly unique about the project is that it’s built to LEED Gold standards,” said Kevin Overton, project manager of Turner Universal, the construction management company for the BioInnovation Center building. “It’s incredible to be a gold-level project.”
The Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System defines a myriad of standards for environmentally and logistically superior building design, used internationally to rate constructions and neighborhoods since its establishment in 1998. To attain status as an accredited LEED Gold Certified construction is a challenging feat.
“It’s a very detailed analysis of the project. This is going to be the first LEED Gold project to be built in New Orleans,” said David Poole, senior project superintendent with Turner Universal.
Located on the corners of Canal and Marais streets, the new BioInnovation Center building will house the Center’s office, retail space, and universally adaptable wet-lab and office spaces for the companies in their biotechnology incubator.
While designed for its functionality, the building promises to be an aesthetic head-turner as well. The four-story construction will feature a lobby with an open atrium, a courtyard area with a fountain feature, and sweeping ceiling-to-floor glass windows facing Canal Street. But those glass sheets aren’t just for looks-they will add points to the LEED certification as well.
“The glass restricts the amount of heat that comes through, keeping the air-conditioning usage down,” Overton said, explaining that the lighting will be approached differently as well.
“We’re going to try to use as much outside light as possible. Along with lower-energy florescent lighting, we will be giving each person control of the light at his or her desk to turn that light off. That way, if you have a large space, you don’t have to leave all the lights on for one person.” Motion sensors and other features will also be incorporated.
Construction waste has not been left out of the equation; 98 percent of all of the wood, concrete and other waste produced during construction is currently being recycled, according to Poole. The building’s forward-thinking features also include its water-pervious parking lot, a reflective white roof to aid in cooling costs, and rainwater retention system.
“The water feature is actually going to catch all the water from the roof,” Poole explained. “It will be used for irrigation, and the overrun-instead of going into the city’s system-will go into the pervious paving in the parking lot. It’s a really neat design.”
“You couldn’t find a more important place to utilize this water system,” Overton noted. “Any system that will prevent water runoff will be to the BioInnovation Center’s advantage.”
Occupants will also find advantage in cost-savings in such a building, in that after the infrastructure is installed, operational costs will be significantly lower than in a normal laboratory or office space.
The building’s team broke ground on the project in October 2009, and plans to have the facility completed by February 22, 2011. Poole and Overton credited the project’s swift momentum to the combination of players in the team.
“It’s a big process, but we’ve done well,” said Poole. “The team is probably the best part of the job. I’ve traveled all over the world doing construction projects, but this group, from engineers to architects to owners, is probably the best group I’ve been able to associate with for a long time.” Other team members include architect Eskew, Dumez & Ripple, engineering group Newcomb & Boyd, laboratory caseworker Fisher Hamilton, and other outside contractors.
Overton said he has already experienced positive responses about the project so far from the community. “The goal of improving this area of Canal Street is a pretty big deal around here, and we’re getting lots of positive feedback on that.”
“I think when it’s built, it’s going to cause some serious attention,” Poole added. “It’s pretty amazing when people walk into a new facility like this; they get excited. Being all glass, you’ll walk in and feel like you’re outside instead of cramped up in another office.”
Among the many unique aspects of the construction, Poole noted that live webcam coverage is available via the BioInnovation Center website, and said with a grin, “We have a lot of people watching.”
Interested in the progress of the BioInnovation Center building construction? Visit it via live webcam anytime.
