Any with LEED experience with rearing / lab facilities

We are preparing to construct a new fish lab. Evaluating architects now. The present facility was designed as a swine research facility. The high moisture environment is degrading the buildings structure. The new facility is to be either moisture tolerant or be able to manage moisture at levels that protects building. Latter option would be energy costly. We want building to be rated LEED Silver or better. Anyone with experince dealing with achieving a LEED rating without hurting our ability to keep fish?

We also want to consider more energy effecient designs for moving water about without reducing tank space.

Don't know a lot about LEED ratings but you could use LED lighting to keep cost down and drill the tanks with an overflow to a common sump if you want the same parameters in all tanks. The chance of disease transmission goes up but it is easier to make sure all the water is the same.

If I were setting up a large series of tanks and was only gonna use low light plants I would run an air distribution system with a sponge filter in each tank and use LED lighting over the tanks to keep cost down. That would mean you only have 1 airpump drawing power and LEDs will run 5+ years at a much lower cost than say T12 or T5 lighting. I saw this done in a school lab many years ago but they of course didn't have LEDs then.

Edited by sounguru, 08 January 2010 - 04:47 PM.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

It may very well include LED (light emitting diode) technology for lighting. The LEED is broader and tanks into consideration the design of the building itself. Our aquaculture activities are energy intensive for purposes of temperature control, moving water, moving air and lighting.

I am a LEED AP, and an Architectural Intern. My boss is a Licenced Architect in the State of Missouri. I don't specifically have personal experience with rearing or lab type facilities, but I am an avid aquarist and a former nuclear operator on a US Navy submarine, so I would have an understanding of what you are trying to communicate to me. I would love the opportunity to send you our resume. Our company has a plethora of experience ranging from higher education to commercial to government work. We are actively working on projects for several school districts as well as the University of Illinois, Illinois State University, and the Illinois Capitol Development Board. I can tell you from a personal stand point that I would really enjoy working on something like what you have briefly described.

Edited by Archinuke, 13 January 2010 - 04:23 PM.

I am a LEED AP, and an Architectural Intern. My boss is a Licenced Architect in the State of Missouri. I don't specifically have personal experience with rearing or lab type facilities, but I am an avid aquarist and a former nuclear operator on a US Navy submarine, so I would have an understanding of what you are trying to communicate to me. I would love the opportunity to send you our resume. Our company has a plethora of experience ranging from higher education to commercial to government work. We are actively working on projects for several school districts as well as the University of Illinois, Illinois State University, and the Illinois Capitol Development Board. I can tell you from a personal stand point that I would really enjoy working on something like what you have briefly described.

At this time, the proposal submission deadline has just pasted. A this time I need ideas to put before fellow committee members. My fellows are not all that tree-huggerish and get a testosterone rush when shooting down efforts to protect environment when such ideas are poorly thought out.

At this time, the proposal submission deadline has just pasted. A this time I need ideas to put before fellow committee members. My fellows are not all that tree-huggerish and get a testosterone rush when shooting down efforts to protect environment when such ideas are poorly thought out.

That is too bad(for me.)

Well a lot of it depends on the configuration of the building you are designing. For instance if your building is utilizing a geoexchange system you can utilize waste heat from the system for heating water. You could use this water to heat your tanks.

Another way would be simply to install a green power generation system of some kind. This could be wind power, solar power, or if you are close to a source of moving water microhydro power. If using microhydro you have to be careful about making sure that it doesn't damage habitat. It would be somewhat of a blackeye on your project to destroy habitat of fish when constructing a research lab to study fish.

You could use micro-hydro from your tanks to recover some energy there. If you have an overflow, run this water through a micro-hydro genertor using the power of gravity to move the water past the generator. You could use this in conjunction with stacking tanks vertically and having one overflow to another thus using one pump to pump water back to the top, instead of several. The disadvantage of this would be cross contamination between tanks, especially if you are studying breeding behavior. If one tank had fish spawning in it hormones in the water could cause spawning in another without the researcher knowing it.

These are just off the top of my head, and if the people you are talking to are as anti-"green" as you say it would be wise to research beyond what I am saying here. Try to appeal to the bottom line. SAVING MONEY. That is the beauty of the LEED rating system. It saves the environment by appealing to peoples practical desire to save money either by reducing cost or by increasing productivity. (Full Disclosure, I am on the local USGBC Board so I am a little passionate about it.) Additionally I would work closely with your architect. They should always want to please thier client. They may not always take your suggestions, but they will listen to them and evaluate them for feasability. Unfortnately in the building industry many great ideas never come to be simply because there isn't enough capitol up front to make it happen. Sadly this is true even for ideas that would save money in the long run.

Its too bad you are past the point of taking submissions, because I would have loved working on something like this. If there is some way I can help please feel free to ask. PM me if you need more questions answered. I have to tell you that these are simply ideas to start with, and in no way are they complete. If you proceed with these ideas they must be designed and approved by the appropriate design professional. Neither I nor my firm accept any professional or personal liability for advice given. Good luck.

Edited by Archinuke, 13 January 2010 - 08:54 PM.

Well, darn it. We're nearing the end of the design phase for our new aquaculture research facility and essentially all LEED criteria have been dropped out due to budgeting shortfall. LEED rating did not appear to be a sincere interest by either our office of new construction people or architect firm. They compensated by making bathrooms 3 times larger than needed and making sure a real nice frontage is in place for photographs once building is completed.

We are also setup ideally to stock or local river system with waterever exotics future workers care to bring in our new facility. Job security for environmental managers wanting making living off of invasive species. Darn it! Darn it!