Developing Educational Specifications for Academic Chemistry Buildings Frank L. Chlad The University of Akron, Akron. OH 44325 It has become common nractice to involve facultv members in the design of new or remodeled chemistry facilities and have them serve on a building committee. The purpose of a building committee is to provide the architect with as much information as possible concerning the functions of the proposed huilding. The faculty members on the building committee should ~ r o v i d eaccurate information in the form of a well-thought-out and carefully detailed program of educational s~ecifications. If a labbratory huilding is to function properly, the engineering aspects (which can account for 50-60% of the total cost) must be planned first. This may bother most laymen, and even the architect used to dealing with normal commercial-type buildings, hut the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems must he planned before the room layouts are decided. The most important consideration that needs to be conveved to the architect (and other non-scientists) is the basic prkmise that a laboratory building is not simply an office buildina with some sinks. hoods, and benches scattered througLout. Because of the engineering aspects with regard to adequate ventilation, exhaust systems, air and humidity control, specialized utility needs, and large-scale electrical caoacitv, the modern science facility is, and must he, a "mechanical system with some bricks around it." The persons who will be the original occupants often are called upon for their input during the design stage of planning a new huilding, and the temptation is great to fit the plan to their particular needs and preferences. This can be a costly mistake. A huilding should be designed with the future in mind. Personnel chance. change, technol- . .procrams ogy moves onward, and the laboratory must lend%elf to any of these changes - with a minimum of costly alterations and down time. The worst mistake that a huilding committee can make is to have preconceived ideas of what their laboratories will look like. In all too many instances committees hand the architect some crude sketches showing a lab layout that they "created." Very often the sketch is not to scale and aisles are shown to be two feet wide, no space has been allowed to bring in plumbing and other utilities, and the space is completely disioined from the rest of the building. SUDD~V the architect with information and data, and allowhim.iodo the designing; after all, be or she is being paid well for expert advice. The most effective device for planning your facility is a written description of the total functional needs of your department. This document is called the "program," and if done with thought and serious introspection, i t will list the functions and operations that will be housed in the structure, the design criteria for those functions, and their space needs. I t also will provide information on the projected staffing and enrollment for the future. This document is most valuable if it is prepared before any drawings, and preferably should precede the preparation of spacelfunction relationshin diaerams. '?he Gogram must he a very detailed study of the requirements for the o ~ e r a t i o nof the department. What new programs or cm~rseime anticipatedl'~1~ich may be deleted or altered? Will there be changes in the method of instruction, 852
Journal of Chemical Education
in the total enrollment, in the studentlfaculty ratio? Have you included anticipated increases in the number of faculty, teaching assistants, staff personnel, and other support personnel? All of these, and mahy more questions must he considered carefully in writing your program. Planning the physical space for a department demands a critical evaluation of the use of existing space and other resources and a projection of needs over a 10- to-20-year period. Adequate time must he allowed to prepare a complete and comprehensive program. I t may well be your best investment in the future of your department. After eatherine all the information. the next sten is to prepare the data Tor a written statemedt of the program and the resulting facility requirements. This should he done in identifiable sections which can be studied and understood by persons outside your field but who have a responsibility to see that the program is realistic, neither overstated or underestimated. The architects and engineers must translate your program into a workable space plan. The statement will be made up of a number of sections. Project Cost Estimate A development budget needs to he p r e ~ a r e dhv your unidepartment or archiiect's office: his hudversity get will reflect the limits established hv the amount of project money available. Line items within the hudget may change, hut once the total project appropriation has been established, the total cost is fixed. This budget will give the programmers an estimated square foot area which can be huilt at a eiven sauare foot cost. The eiven area is aeross area andmusche conGerted to net assignable square fe't (NASF) by multiplying i t by a factor which will vary according to the kind of building and the complexity of the mechanical, electrical, and utility services. Net assignable square feet differs from the gross area since NASF does not include such things as hallwavs. stairwells, wall thickness, rest rooms, and custodial closets. As a general rule, a standard classroomloffice building will normally produce a NASF which amounts to about 60-65% of the gross area. Space Assignment by Function This section begins with a summary of spaces of various categories: classrooms, offices, laboratories, library, research laboratories, conference rooms, instructional support areas, etc. The summary is followed by a breakdown, room by room, estimating the number of square feet in each based on space factors. (Space factors are determined by formula, converting numbers of people, contact hours, and activity into generated square foot requirements.) Generatlon of Space Requirements Every person and each activity in the huilding requires some space. This is the space that the person andlor activity "generates." A student in a laboratory generates more than the space he stands on. He generates aisle space, storage space, special activity space, stockroom, and other workroom space. Similarly, the area occupied by a seat in a classroom is only a part of the space that is generated by a "student station." All space to he huilt must be justified by
the activity and the enrollment. Standards may then he applied to establish the net assignahle square feet required for each room. The first sub-part of the generation of space requirements should deal with the need for the new building (or remodeling). I t must include a description of the existing facilities which are t o be replaced or augmented. The description must provide data about the present facilities (square feet, course enrollments, costs, etc.) and point out specific shortcomings and inadequacies. This seition inch& an inventory of the existing.space and a detailed report on its utiliza. tion. The next suh-part must detail the need for more (or less) generated space based upon projected enrollments and academic programs contemplated 10 years in the future. Preparation of these data requires a great deal of thoughtful consideration of all aspects of the departmental or college program within the guidelines of the total university objectives. Educational Speclflcations The object here is to write a general statement describing the philosophy of departmental instruction. An architect designs a structure to solve a problem. In order to do so, he or she must have a clear and understandable statement of the problem. Once the ohjectives and the means you propose to use to meet those objectives are understood, a series of solutions can he developed which can he reviewed and modified to meet the stated needs of the academic program. The architect must understand your department ohjectives in order to do a good job. First, the architect will read the written nroeram . " and. in addition. will meet with facultv members, individually or in groups, and perhaps even meet with some students. I t mav even be helnful to the architect to attend some actual class sessions or lahoratory classes. Communication on everv detail of department loeistics is absolutely critical. The architect's failure t o understand the complete operations of the instructional laboratories, research laboiatories, instrumentation areas, stockrooms;and other support facilities of the department may cause him or her to design space to operate the department as he or she thinks it should he, and not necessarily the way you want i t onerated. The general statement will he followed by very detailed soace function descriptions. Take un each individual room and describe its use in as much detaii as necessary to tell the desien architect what the room must do. and how it will operate. Who will use it? How many will he in the room a t one time? What will thev he doine? What resources are required for them to fulfilltheir functions? Does this space need to he associated with other space? Space is normally segregated into "room types," and explicit, detailed descriptions must he prepared for each room. Speclal Requlrements In this section the programmers have an opportunity to describe the special problems and requirements related to the structure. The foilowing are examples. Special safety requirements include fire suppression systems, smoke and heat detectors, alarms, annunciators,chemical storage areas with explosion-proof lights, statie-free switches,etc. Security features include master keying system, types of locks,
.
etc.
Facilities for the handicapped are required. Specialized utility requirements for instrument areas are needed. Space Conversion Formula This section will deal with how one converts numbers of people into numbers of square feet. I t is one of the most important areas of your program because it will develop "hard numbers" and greatly assist in justifying your needs. Areas that are illustrated will include classrooms, instruc-
tional lahoratories, and research space. Classrooms. In determining classroom space, the net assignable souare feet (NASFI oer weeklv student contact hGur ( W S ~ H )will he "sed ab the basic fictor. By applying this factor (NASFIWSCH) t o the projected weekly student contact hours, the required net assignahle square feet can he determined. If the weeklv scheduled contact hours are not known, a figure of 12.0 WSCH times the projected daytime full-time equivalents (FTE) students may he used. As a result of the interaction of the following three elements, a planning factor of 0.711 for the NASFIWSCH has been developed. 1) The net assignable square feet per student station. 2) Percent of occupancy when the room is in use. 3) Weekly hours that the room is in use.
The assumption and computations made in deriving the 0.711 factor were 1) The NASFlStsti~nfur classrocms a\.erages 15 11'. 2) On the average, a clarsrwm, when in use. will be filled to 6 T of the student stations (seats). 3) The weekly room hours used, based on the period 8:00 am to 300 pm, is approximately 31.5 h. Using these factors: NASFIWSCH =
15 = 0.111 0.67 X 31.5
Instructional Laboratories. In determining the laboratorv soace for instructional lahoratories. the NASFIWSCH Gill be used as the basic factor. Again, b; applying this factor to the . nroiected . weeklv scheduled contact hours for instructional lahoratories, the required net assignahle square feet of lahoratory space can he determined. The factors in the table below have been calculated for instructional programs by consideration of three components: student station area, optimum numher of hours of lahoratory room use per week, and student station occupancy when the room is in use. Space Factorsa (NASF/WSCH) for Teachlng Laboratorles 500 WSCH 5.83 500-3000 WSCH 3.80 3000-3000+ WSCH lndivldual Studv Labs
2.92 2.75
If an institution has a program which requires lahoratory instruction, that program must have a laboratory regardless of the total amount of student use. The hours-of-room-use comnonent is considered when estimatine lahoratorv requirkments. The components for the teachiig laborator> are student station area. 70 ft2: hours of room uselweek. 22.5 h: and station occupancy of rooms in use, 80%.Those for individual study lahoratories are student station area, 70 ft2; hours of room uselweek, 30 h; and station occupancy of rooms in use, 85%. The formula for using these three components in estimating the laboratory requirements is student station area X station occupancy = space factor hlwk The space factors, when multiplied by projected daytime WSCH loads for respective instructional programs, will result in the total NASF required for each type of laboratory for a given projected enrollment. The application of space factors within a general planning process can be illustrated as follows. Assume that a chemistry program for a given year in the projection will enroll 160 daytime full-time equivalents, Volume 62 Number 10 October 1965
853
each of which may generate a class lahoratory load of 5 WSCH per enrollee. T h e total load is 160 FTE X 5 WSCH = 800 WSCH. T h e space factor for achemistry class lahoratory is 3.80. The total load times the space factor = 3040 NASF, divided by the station area of 70NASF = 43 stations, including service space. Depending on institutional policy, etc., assume that a station size of 60 NASF can be seoarated into 2580 NASF (43 X 60) for direct instructional space, and 460 NASF for service, preparation, instrumentation, storage, etc. T o calculate the NASF for teaching lahoratories for a new huilding, one must start with an enrollment estimate for each course reauirina lahoratory space. Going through the mathematics ofdete;mining how many sections of the lahomtory course will he offered tu meet the required utilizatiun standards (RIP; of the stations occuuied for 50"b of the 45hour wk) one can decide how ma& student stations the lahoratory must have a t any one time. Multiplying the number of stations by 70 will give the NASF which must he constructed for that particular teaching lahoratory. Repeat the procedure for each laboratory course. Ezample. Assume that 60 students will enroll in a course in organic chemistry which requires 5 hof scheduled lahoratory time per week. Because of the nature of the work, a laboratory section size may not exceed 20 students for proper instruction and safety (department policy). With these parameters of utilization, the laboratory space generated can he calculated. The room capacity is 25 (80%of the stations should he filled in each section), and 25 stations X 70 NASF per student station = 1150 ft2. Therefore, three sections of lahoratory of 20 students each at 5 hlwk for each section = 300 WSCH times 5.83 (space factor for chemistry lahs) = 1749 NASF of lahoratory space generated. This could he one large lab of 1750 ft2,or two labs of 875 ft2each. Research Laboratories: The area per researcher in the physical sciences, including chemistry, biology, physics, and geology, would consist of a basic research module of 160 ft2 plus 80 ft2 of service space (such as instrument rooms, storage, etc.). Each institution should project its research space requirements using the following formula for each program requiring research space: [CI(MHC)+ CADHC) + C3(FneultyFTE)] X
854
Module Size = NASF
Journal of Chemical Education
where C = number of each moup requiring research space in the first Quarter (or semester) of each academic year, MHC = masters degree students by head count, and L l h = doctoral degree students by head count. Erample. Assume that a department has 36 masters degree students, of which 18 are first-year students who have not yet selected a research advisor. The department has 24 doctoral degree students, and is staffed with 18 full-time faculty members. Using the above formula,the net assignable square feet generated would be [I8 (MHC) + 24 (DHC) 18 (Faculty FTE)] X 240ft2= 14.400 .~ NASF. 'l'his could l,e allocated as 20 four-perwn latwraturie*of 720 ft2 each. Tht. 720 ft' resrarch module appears t u be an ideal arrangement for science facilities. It would normally be a room that is 24 f t wide and 30 f t deep. An excellent configuration is obtained because of several factors. A four-personlahoratory appears to fit best the needs of most departments. Two-person laboratories result in too much duplication of equipment, and six- or eightperson laboratories tend to cause housekeeping problems due to a lack of easily identifiable space. In the example stated above, each of the 18 faculty members could be assigned one four-person lahoratory for their graduate students, with two additional four-person laboratories being assigned to those faculty with traditionally larger groups, or with the two extra laboratories being used as "overflow" areas.
+
~
~
~~
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Special Use Laboratories. These are lahoratories that r e q k r e special-purpose equipment a n d for which t h e amount of faculty andlor student use is not a factor. Some typical examples~wouldhe major instrumentation lahoratory (NMR, ESR, Mass SpecIGC), glassblowing facility or machine shop, clean room or hazardous reaction facility, darkrooms, and cold room or constant environment chambers. These areas should be planned with the NASF determined by the size and necessary configuration of the specialized equipment and the number of persons that would normally he working in the room a t any given time. Your huilding starts with a well-thought-out and very carefully detailed program of educational s~ecifications. T h e architect and engineers must have a clea;understanding of the building's use. By providing them with accurate data and sound irojection, you will ensure that they can function effectively and design the type of structure that best suits your needs.
