NIST Building 245

Quick Facts

Location

Gaithersburg, MD

Market

Government Building

Client

Hensel Phelps

Engineer

RMF (Peer Review)

Delivery Method

Design-Build

Square Footage

60,000

Project Summary

The modernization of the Radiation Physics Laboratory (Building 245) on the Gaithersburg campus of the National Institute of Science and Technology is a multi-phase, multi-year design build renovation of the existing laboratory along with the addition of 60,000 square foot of new research laboratory space.  The completed facility will house research laboratories, cleanrooms, office and support space for the radiation physics group.

The KDB engineering team worked with our contracted EOR to provide engineering master planning, design and coordination services for the building’s HVAC, piping and plumbing systems which include 240,000 cfm of conditioned 100% outside air with high efficiency runaround heat recovery and fog humidification, double contained radioactive waste system, polypropylene laboratory waste system, central RO/DI water system, dedicated fume hood exhaust systems with HEPA filtration for 50+ fume hoods, process cooling loop, campus chilled water interconnect, and a high pressure steam to hot water system.  KBD utilized CFD modeling to aid in the design of the facility exhaust systems and performed whole building energy modeling to support the building’s LEED silver rating goal with an estimated 30% energy cost savings.

All of the systems were designed using Autodesk Revit software and multi-trade coordinated using Navisworks during the design, fabrication and installation phases. Because the facility must be kept partially occupied and functioning during the phased renovation, KDB utilized a full building laser scan and Virtual Reality (VR) to visualize existing systems, accurately coordinate points of interconnection and assist with the overall phasing plan.