Modern lab facilities have evolved to be more flexible, adaptable, and sustainable. They are safer for occupants to work in, and more economical to operate. Building systems have evolved to support these needs, and to support scientific advancement by delivering greater capability and performance. And modern science facilities have more diverse occupants with diverse needs of the spaces they occupy. There are wet labs and dry labs, of course. But also offices, collaboration spaces, dining areas, and even on-site amenities like exercise spaces and relaxation spaces that, in total, seek to maximize the health and happiness of the occupants - and thus maximize the productivity of those occupants. With lower lab density in many modern designs, in particular lower wet lab density, modular lab utilities often provide more economical and sustainable solutions for building owners, while providing scientists with better quality tools to support their research. Local vacuum networks are an example of this - they are economical and sustainable systems which deliver deep, stable, high-quality vacuum to lab buildings by taking a modular, yet scalable, approach for virtually any lab. This course will focus on the ways that lab vacuum is supplied to research and teaching labs within multi-use science facilities. We will compare a variety of different supply options, with a focus on local vacuum networks with respect to the components used as well as design and project execution considerations. Brief case studies of representative installations will be used to highlight these strategies in science facilities and the design and performance trade-offs involved.

Presented by various experts on behalf of VACUUBRAND.