Frank L. Chlad The University of Akron Akron. Ohio 44325
Designing a Safe Academic Chemistry Building
Ground has been broken at the University of Akron for what is helieved to he one of the safest academic chemistry buildings in the country . . . one that may well serve as a model for buildings of the same type in the future. Desiened hv the Akron firm of Tuchman, Canute and
A special holding room has been designed for the storage of waste solvents and chemicals until they are picked up hy a commercial disposal service. Waste solvents are kept in approved 5-gal safety cans which are provided in each laboratory where solvents are used.
Chemistry huilding and the other a three-story Nursing and Health Sciences facility. Safety was our dominant theme during the program and design phases, and we were extremely pleased with the hacking and support we received, not only from the architects, hut from our university and state officials as well. They share with us the view that the learning- .Drocess.. ~articularlv in . Chemistry, must he carried out in a safe environment. Probably the most important of the innovative safety features incorporated into the laboratories in the Chemistry wing is the installation of 160 induced-air fume hoods, making it possible for all experiments to be conducted in hoods. T o conserve enerav. the hoods will only take 25% of their air from inside the rooks, the remainder being tempered outside air drawn in through ducts a t the base of the huilding. The facility should he virtually odor-free because chemical fumes will be drawn out of the huilding a t approximately three times the rate obtainahle with a standard ventilation system, thus creating a safe environment for both students and faculty. The total flour space of the structure will he 140,660 square feet, more than 80,000 square feet of which will he in the Chemistry section. Plans call for the Chemistry wing to be occupied by Fall quarter, 1978. While the entire building was designed with safety as the dominant theme, several areas are worthy of special mention, as they are especially innovative.
Hazardous Chemical Laboratory One lab has been set aside and specially designed for the running of reactions involving highly toxic, carcinogenic or radioactive compounds. This room is equipped with appropriate glove hoxes, a radiological-type stainless steel hood with special filters and ducting, a bacteriological hood, one-piece flooring with coving, and stainless steel counters which are also coved for ease of clean-up. The rwnn also has an enclosed shower stall and a changing room in which disposable clothing will he stored.
Undergraduate Organic Teaching Laboratories Generally, the undergraduate organic lahoratory poses the largest potential danger as far as accidents, fire, and noxious fumes are concerned. This is due both to the nature of the organic chemicals utilized, and to the use of large quantities of solvents. The Oreanic Lahoratorv is divided into two areas served by a common instrument room. Each of the areas contains 16 8-ft auxiliarv air hoods a t which the students will do all of their work. here will be two student stations per hood, giving a total of 64 working stations a t any given time. Because all work will be done in the hoods, rather than a t benches and hoods, the maior traffic cuneestion and safety ~ r o b l e m sassociated with ihis lab will hegreatly minimized. Chemical Storage One of the ereatest ~roblemsfacine Chemistrv . de~artments . is t h ~ dt p n , \ i d i n y xlrquntr ;and 4 e chvm~~.;d sruragr. All too i~lr(w this i.; an nlrrrtl~orrcht.rntlwr t h m h m r an inttxral part of the planning of a new building. A specially-built chemical stores wing will jut out from the main huilding a t the ground level. This wing will he surrounded hy a landscaped earth berm going to the roof line on three sides and will he equipped with pressure-releasing roof panels. The facility will have smoke and heat detectors, an annunciator alarm, and a self-contained COz extinguisher system. All outlets, switches, and telephones in this area will he static-free. 36 1 Journal of Chemical Education
Research Laboratories Much consideration was given to the design of the graduate and faculty research labs. Graduate labs are designed for four students, each of whom will have his own hood. A fifth hood, operating continuously, will be used fur chemical storage. The four student hmds will he operated as needed. All hoods are located aeainst the window wall and are ducted through a vertical chase running outside the huilding. In fact, all utilities will run through this "exoskeletal" chase. A faculty member's personal research laboratory will he separated from his or her office by a door, and in the graduate laboratories, the students' desks will be placed a t the inside corridor wall, in an area partiallv separated from the laboratory proper hya partition. ~hesemkas&esare intended to proteit a worker from low concentrations of airborne ~ollutantswhile he or she is not actually in the laboratory, andto eliminate the necessity of having visitors walk through a potentially hazardous area to reach a faculty member or graduate student. Furthermore, each lahoratory in the building will have at least one rear exit to preclude a person's heing trapped in case of fire. Each four-man lab will have a "safety island" consisting of an approved solvent storage cabinet, fire extinguisher, safety shower, bucket of sand, fire blanket, and eye-wash bottle. Finally, the utilities in each individual lahoratory will he able to he shut off from a contml panel located in the corridor, so that in case of fire or other accident, any laboratory can quickly be isolated from the others. Chrornatography-Distillation Laboratory
A 600-ftGrea has heen allocated for a ChmmatographyDistillation Lahuratory. This facility will he utilized for chromatography or distillations requiring the use of large amounts of solvents. Benches and distillation racks will have large canopy-type fume hoods over them to exhaust all vapors. The department routinely recycles expensive solvents by redistillation resulting in approximately 80% recovery. Dr. John Houser and Frank Chlad, memhers of the department of Chemistry's Safety Committee, initiated many of the innovative huilding and safety features and persons desiring additional information may write them a t the Department of Chemistry, the University of Aknm, Akron, Ohio 44325.
