Lab Manager Highlights AEI Project Innovation at Caltech and California Air Resources Board
Following recognition in its 2022 Design Excellence Awards program, Lab Manager recently published two articles highlighting the California Institute of Technology’s (Caltech) Chen Neuroscience Research Building and the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Southern California Headquarters.
Each project serves as a modern steward of sustainable design and laboratory innovation, and AEI was honored to collaborate on these efforts.
Caltech Project
Achieving Excellence in Innovation in Lab Manager’s 2022 Design Excellence Awards, the Chen Neuroscience Research Building establishes a new addition to the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech campus.
The project — a collaboration with SmithGroup and Hensel Phelps — is praised for creating a world-class research facility designed to facilitate increased collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas by dismantling the physical silos often characteristic of traditional lab facilities.
The Chen building incorporates high-performance engineered systems to create advanced research environments.
CARB's Southern California Headquarters facility encompasses 402,000 square feet on a 19-acre campus.
CARB Project
The recipient of Excellence in Sustainability as part of Lab Manager’s 2022 Design Excellence Awards, CARB’s Southern California Headquarters — located in the semi-arid climate of Riverside, California — currently represents the largest zero net energy (ZNE) facility in the United States, producing all energy it uses onsite.
In addition to meeting ZNE requirements, the all-electric design establishes a technically advanced, user-centric campus that not only expands CARB’s emissions testing capabilities but provides built-in flexibility to accommodate evolving research practices and organizational needs.
Technically advanced laboratory research and testing environments accelerate the next generation of transportation innovation at CARB.
“The dry and often hot climate of Riverside presented a unique opportunity for us to rethink our cooling strategy and, in turn, save a significant amount of energy”