Biocontainment Laboratory Achieves LEED Gold
The Department of Homeland Security's National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is the first large-scale federal biocontainment laboratory facility in the United States to receive LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The $1.25 billion, 700,000-square-foot facility houses BSL-2, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-4 labs and is expected to be completed in spring 2022. The entire campus was designed to meet sustainability goals and energy efficiency targets not often realized in high-containment programs.
Five joint-venture partners collaborated on the design, which was initially intended to attain LEED Silver. Flad's contributions that helped the facility achieve LEED Gold certification included:
- On-site water pre-treatment system that sanitizes effluent and stores it for use in drip irrigation
- Habitat protection and restoration
- Low-mow grasses that require minimal maintenance
- No potable water used for irrigation
- Water-efficient landscape
- Parking areas that are light-colored concrete rather than black asphalt, which helps minimize the heat island effect
- Improved energy efficiency by 18 percent over base models
May 19, 2022