45 



Appea41x I 



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Federal Laboratories 

 Need Repairs and 

 Upgrades 



Many of the eight federal agencies' laboratories had aging buildings, 

 mechanical systems, and utility components that have reached the end of 

 their useful lives and need to be repziired or replaced before they break 

 down. Common problems cited by agency and laboratory facilities 

 managers included leaking roofs; heating, ventilating, and air conditioning 

 (hvac) systems that cannot provide designed amounts of ventilation 

 needed particularly for biological or chemical rad; outdated electrical 

 power system components; and water pipes that have corroded or 

 collected excessive deposits through the years. In many cases, the cost of 

 repairing or renovating laboratory facilities is substantially increased 

 because of the presence of asbestos, a known carcinogen used extensively 

 between World War 11 and the 1970s as a fire retardant and pipe insulation. 

 Special procedures are required to encapsulate or remove asbestos before 

 a repair is made to minimize workers' exposure. 



During the past 20 years, many federal laboratories have expanded 

 missions, rad funding, and staffing. This growth has increased the demand 

 for air ventilation for fume hoods — basic laboratory equipment designed 

 to minimize researchers' exposure to noxious gases during chemical 

 testing by directly exhausting fumes outdoors. Federal scientists also are 

 using sophisticated equipment and advanced computers to perform rad, 

 thus increasing federal laboratories' demand for electrical power and 

 central air conditioning. Furthermore, older federal laboratories were not 

 designed to provide the temperature, humidity, air cleaiUiness, and 

 vibration controls that today's sensitive scientific instruments need to 

 make precise measurements. 



The following discussior\s of four federal laboratories illustrate some of 

 the issues associated with aging facilities and the need for modem rad 

 facilities. 



Beltsville Agricultural 

 Research Center 



The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (barc), established in 1910 in 

 Beltsville, Maryland, is the Agricultural Research Service's (ars) largest 

 laboratory. About 77 percent of barc's laboratory space was built before 

 1943, making it more than 50 years old. These older buildings were not 

 designed with central air conditioning systems, so barc laboratories and 

 offices use about 2.000 less-efficient room units. Facihties managers 

 estimated that 90 percent of barc's laboratory facilities would not meet 

 ars' standard of 10 to 15 air exchanges per hour, year around, barc 

 facilities managers and scientists also cited a general need to replace 

 leaking roofs, gutters, and drafly window frames in the older buildings. 



