U.S. Department of Agriculture

National Bio and Agro Defense Facility

High-performance design supporting high-consequence research and diagnostics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) joined forces to establish the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). This cutting-edge facility replaces the outdated Plum Island Animal Disease Center, which had operated for over 65 years but could no longer meet the increasing demands for advanced research on the following biological threats:

  • Agro-Terrorism
  • Foreign Animal Diseases
  • Emerging Animal Diseases and Zoonoses

NBAF is critical in safeguarding the nation by researching, developing, and testing countermeasures—such as vaccines, diagnostics, and therapies—to combat zoonotic and foreign animal diseases. This ultimately protects the U.S. food supply, livestock, and public health.

After 17 years of rigorous planning, numerous applications, funding debates, and evolving design and scope changes, NBAF finally took shape in Manhattan, Kansas. The state-of-the-art complex sits on a new federal campus adjacent to Kansas State University. The NBAF campus comprises several vital facilities, each augmenting laboratory research and accelerating technology against emerging threats.

Engineering Leadership

AEI provided engineering leadership for the entire project, delivering programming and conceptual planning, mechanical, electrical, piping/plumbing (MEP), fire protection, information technology, instrumentation and controls, cost estimating, utility infrastructure services, and Pivotal Lighting Design's architectural lighting solutions. AEI served as the Engineer of Record for the administrative areas, the CUP, and the BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratories.

Main Laboratory and Research Building

At the core of the campus is the 574,000-square-foot Main Laboratory and Research Building, housing biocontainment labs, animal space, support areas, required safety systems, and office space that enable cutting-edge research across multiple biosafety levels. It includes the following biocontainment spaces:

  • 9,700-square-foot BSL-2
  • 81,000-square-foot BSL-3AG / BSL-3, BSL-3E
  • 134,000-square-foot BSL-4
  • 8,300-square-foot Biologics Development Module

Services

Location

Manhattan, KS

Partners

  • Cardno Haynes Whaley Associates, Inc.
  • Flad Architects
  • M. A. Mortenson Company
  • McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
  • Merrick & Company
  • Perkins&Will
  • WSP

LEED Status

LEED Gold

Building Size

520,000 square feet

Project Delivery

  • Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR)

Awards

  • 2023 ENR National,Best Project, Government/Public Building
  • ENR Midwest 2023 Project of the Year
  • 2023 ENR Midwest, Best Project, Government/Public Building
17
year long project starting with project team formation in 2006 & certification and occupancy in 2023

BSL-2 Laboratories: The BSL-2 labs maintain and culture cell lines for diagnostic and research purposes. These cell lines serve as substrates for virus cultivation, aiding animal disease diagnostics and control development.

BSL-3E (Enhanced) Laboratories: BSL-3E labs conduct and develop disease detection assays, focusing on precisely identifying infectious agents, tracking disease epidemiology, and investigating disease origins. Insights gained here support the vaccine formulation to protect livestock through targeted vaccination.

BSL-3AG (Agriculture) Spaces: In these specialized spaces, researchers study the spread of animal diseases within large livestock populations to enhance diagnosis and control efforts directly within the animals.

Insectary: NBAF’s high-containment insectary enables the study of insects as disease vectors, which is crucial for understanding emerging insect-borne diseases. This facility supports research on disease transmission between vectors and hosts, helping to devise novel control strategies.

NBAF is the only large-scale research facility in the country that offers the highest level of biocontainment with BSL-4 capabilities.

BSL-4 Suite: NBAF houses the first large animal BSL-4 facility in the United States, comprising BSL-4 lab space and small and large animal ABSL-4 spaces. This suite allows researchers to work on zoonotic diseases—those transmissible between animals and humans—under the highest biosafety standards.

Biologics Development Module (BDM): The BDM can rapidly produce experimental biologicals, diagnostics, and vaccine-related products, enabling swift USDA response to an emerging animal disease outbreak.

15
days of emergency standby power

Central Utility Plant (CUP)

The CUP serves as the NBAF campus' backbone, supplying essential operational systems. It encompasses boilers, chillers, and emergency diesel generators that offer climate control and 15 days of uninterrupted standby power. The boilers are dual fuel, running primarily on natural gas but capable of switching to onsite fuel oil storage during a natural gas disruption.

Transshipping Building

This building handles materials, equipment, and supplies intake. Clean items enter from the public-facing side and are distributed throughout the NBAF campus, ensuring efficient and secure incoming resource processing.

Wastewater Pre-Treatment Plant

This facility treats all sanitary waste generated by the Main Laboratory and Transshipping Building, reducing the biological oxygen demand and satisfying the City of Manhattan's strict environmental regulations.

Visitor Center

The Visitor Center manages the visitor check-in, screening, and badging. It serves as the primary access point for most NBAF employees and offers a spacious conference room for meetings with external partners.

The effluent decontamination tanks. Courtesy of USDA NBAF Office of Communications.

The NBAF upholds and surpasses today’s highest biocontainment design principles and standards.

Facility Design

Due to the highly sensitive nature of NBAF's research, the facility's design incorporates structural and containment integrity standards like those used in nuclear facilities. It sets the benchmark for biocontainment facilities, adhering to the Biosafety in Microbiological Laboratories guidelines, ARS Facilities Design Standards, CDC Design and Construction Standards, and Unified Facilities Criteria, minimizing risks and preventing accidental pathogen releases.

AEI's MEP design ensures NBAF’s functions are met safely and securely with pressurization and airflow strategies, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration, dedicated piping systems, and proper sealing MEP systems at the containment barriers. NBAF incorporates key safety design elements, including:

1st
LEED Gold biocontainment facility

Air Circulation: The HVAC system serving containment areas is single-pass, which introduces fresh air and directly expels containment area exhaust air, ensuring no cross-contamination.

Air Filtration: HEPA systems filter all air entering and exiting containment spaces, preventing pathogens from escaping via the HVAC system while ensuring clean facility air. The HEPA filters incorporate automatic filter scanning that is compliant with DIN 1822. Automatic filter scanning is used for testing and documenting separation efficiency and leak detection.

Air Pressure Differentials: Containment spaces are maintained and monitored for a negative pressure compared to the surrounding areas, with air flowing from lower-risk areas to higher-risk zones.

Building Automation System: The facility's HVAC air valves are automatically controlled to preserve the pressure differentials. The system continuously adjusts to meet the research activity demands, maintaining 8 to 12 air changes per hour depending on the containment zone, even during system failures.

System Redundancy: NBAF is equipped with N+1 critical system redundancy, ensuring uninterrupted operations and safety even during malfunctions or maintenance. AEI evaluated and addressed the risk of single-point system failures early in the design process.

1st
tornado-resistant high containment facility in the world

Resiliency

During the design phase, a National Academies of Sciences review identified the need to address tornado risks, leading to NBAF's design incorporating tornado resilience criteria—an unprecedented step for biocontainment facilities. The project team, alongside DHS leadership, opted to apply the same tornado design requirements used for commercial nuclear facilities, marking NBAF as the first U.S. biocontainment facility built to meet the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's tornado resistance standards.

The NBAF’s design centers around the atrium, creating a dynamic hub that seamlessly connects the entry sequence, offices, and public spaces.

In the event of a tornado, NBAF swiftly transitions from full operational status to a secure shutdown within seconds. This rapid response effectively seals the facility's containment areas to prevent pathogen release. The structural integrities of the interstitial and penthouse levels are preserved to protect essential air handling and filtration systems.

Sustainability

Achieving LEED Gold certification, NBAF stands as the only sizeable high-containment facility to earn any level of LEED certification. AEI's innovative sustainable engineering design and comprehensive energy modeling offered a range of energy and water conservation design elements, including:

Energy Conservation Measures

  • A high-performance building envelope minimizes heating and cooling loads and is complemented by high-efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors that deactivate lights and airflow when unnecessary.
  • An energy recovery system reduces outside air preconditioning loads by capturing energy from the building's exhaust air stream via a run-around loop.
  • A heat-recovery chiller recycles the IT closet's waste heat, channeling it into the building's reheat system for enhanced efficiency.
  • Utilized in offices and select laboratories, chilled beams lower fan energy consumption and cut equipment size.
“The NBAF will be a key component in our joint effort with USDA to advance research, critical to the security of our nation’s food supply and agricultural economy.”
— Dr. Reginald Brothers, US Department of Homeland Security, Secretary

NBAF is one of only a few BSL-3 laboratories that feature windows while still achieving the second-highest containment level.

Water Conservation Measures

  • Rooftop stormwater collection supplements cooling tower make-up requirements.
  • The air handling unit condensate is reused and returned to the CUP, providing make-up water for onsite cooling towers.
  • Chilled water cools scientific equipment, helping to minimize water consumption during each cycle.
  • Onsite waste treatment systems equalize discharge flows over time, decreasing peak flows and lowering municipal treatment demands.
  • Subsurface irrigation utilizes discharge from the constructed wetlands associated with the onsite wastewater treatment system.

As the only BSL-4 laboratory in the nation equipped to handle large animals, NBAF will serve as a critical national security asset, addressing gaps in animal research and response capabilities. Its establishment will not only bolster the nation's preparedness and response strategies but also protect livestock and agricultural interests vital for maintaining economic stability and job security. NBAF will cultivate scientific talent, foster innovation in vaccine development, and provide training opportunities for future veterinarians and health professionals engaged in its mission of safeguarding U.S. agriculture, food supply, and public health.

Nationally recognized for its first-of-its-kind design, NBAF secured the 2023 ENR Best of the Best Project, Government/Public Building and was named a Project of the Year finalist.

Learn more

1st
BSL-4 facility designed to house and accommodate large livestock

Project Leaders