Science Market Update

Sustainable Research Laboratories: A Short List of the Three Basics

Posted by BCI Staff on Fri, Aug 12, 2011

In a recent flux of research laboratory constructs, a majority of the 21st century designs and new facilities fall under the sustainable category. But what makes a laboratory, or any other building, sustainable?sustainable research

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Tags: Northeast, Sustainable Architecture, research laboratories, National

Green Development and Its Role in Modern Architecture

Posted by BCI Staff on Fri, Jul 15, 2011

         Green architecture is widely endorsed within the fields of residential, commercial businesses, community centers, and educational/research oriented buildings. One particular firm, HDR, Inc, has embraced the challenge of incorporating the needs of the global populations with the necessities of sustaining the environment in which these facilities are to be erected.

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Tags: Northwest, Sustainable Architecture, National, HDR

Science Fiction "Carmageddon" Prompts Emergency Measures at UCLA

Posted by BCI Staff on Wed, Jul 13, 2011

Last month we blogged about UCLA's School of Public Affairs and its role in engaging community, business, academic, and local government bodies in productive discourse about LA's future as a city.  The outlook was optimistic, even going so far as to envision bike paths and community parks people would walk to socialize with neighbors.  Public transit would be so good that cars would be optional, not the sine qua non of LA life.

science fiction laNow, rather sooner than one might have wished, that vision of a less-car-dependent populace is being put to the test.  It's being called Carmageddon, the closure of the 405 Fwy through the heart of LA for an entire weekend this July 15th (at midnight) through the 17th.  What will this human science experiment in the living laboratory tell us about Angelenos' prognosis for survival in a more sustainable world?
 
According to a UCLA Newsroom report entitled "The Day the 405 Stood Still":  
 
ucla medical centerAt UCLA, shutting down is not an option: With a major hospital to run, summer camps to attend and petri-dish experiments to keep alive, university officials expect 8,000 to 10,000 people on campus.
 
UCLA Today in its "UCLA braces for Carmageddon" piece adds:
 
More than 1,900 hospital employees will keep UCLA’s two hospitals purring, with several hundred doctors, nurses and other staff bunking in campus residence halls in case of an emergency. Roughly 200 children will attend long-ago promised sports camps, about 200 MBA students start classes, and 150 teachers from China will arrive at LAX to begin teacher-training on campus.
 
UCLA Medical Center's response to the potential nightmare is to put itself on high alert, take measures to see that it continues to function normally, and make on-campus housing available for commuting staff "in case of an emergency."  Presumably that emergency would be impassable roads.  They don't seem to anticipate an influx of patients as a result of the freeway closure, though the way the event is being imagined in science fiction terms makes it sound like casualties are inevitable.  Will road rage turn into rioting and looting?  Will there be a mass psychiatric meltdown?  Will people trip on the unfamiliar laces of their walking shoes?  Rest assured, more police will be out (on bicycles?), according to UCLA Today's article:
 
The UCPD and UCLA Transportation are among the departments scheduling extra staff to make sure everything runs smoothly, and both UCPD and the LAPD are considering overnighting in UCLA dorms.
 
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Tags: University of California Los Angeles, Southwest, California, Los Angeles, Sustainable Architecture, UCLA, Event, laboratory

Sustainable Architecture and its Developing Role at Georgetown

Posted by BCI Staff on Tue, Jul 05, 2011

As this new decade begins, a prominent overtone that is in the spotlight of the bright minds of modern architects is sustainable design. The enthusiasm for environmental consideration when designing new buildings is centered in the most vibrant cultural centers: our universities, where some of the worlds’ most vitalizing minds work in tandem to create sustainable designs for future generations’ prosperity and use as well as their own.

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Tags: Northeast, Sustainable Architecture, USGBC, Georgetown, green design, LEED

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