57 



Appendix II 



Laboratory Facilities Have Limited 

 Agencies' Productivity and Scientific 

 Capabilities 



The federal laboratory facilities managers and researchers we interviewed 

 stated that aging federal laboratories have reduced scientific productivity 

 primarily because many hvac and other systems can no longer meet their 

 designed capacities; are more apt to break down; and, in some cases, have 

 posed health hazards to researchers. In addition, laboratories' expanding 

 missions and researchers' needs for performing advanced rad have 

 increased capacity and reliability requirements for such utilities as 

 electrical power, ventilation, and air conditioning. The facilities managers 

 and researchers cited various mstances in which a facility's problems 

 disrupted R&D programs or reduced confidence in the reproducibility of 

 experimental results, causing researchers, in many instances, to repeat 

 experiments. However, they stated that their laboratories generally have 

 avoided a prolonged shutdown of rad programs by successfully 

 engineering around emergencies. Furthermore, some agencies cited the 

 need for advanced laboratory facilities to improve (1) health and safety 

 conditions, particularly for biochemical research; (2) temperature, 

 humidity, air cleanliness, and vibration controls; and/or (3) flexibility to 

 respond to new research programs and scientists' needs. 



Scientific Productivity 

 Is Reduced 



Federal facilities managers and researchers stated that aging laboratory 

 facilities have reduced scientific productivity and cited many instances in 

 which productivity was substantially reduced because of (1) inadequate 

 ventilating systems that have caused respiratorj' problems among 

 researchers or contaminated laboratory samples with microorganisms or 

 particles; (2) delays and disruptions in making facilities repairs that 

 limited researchers' access to equipment or facilities needed to perform 

 R&D; (3) researchers' inability to control experimental conditions that 

 reduced confidence in the reliability of the research results; (4) power 

 outages and other systems malfunctions that disrupted experiments; and 

 (5) inadequate ventilating capacity, which linuted researchers' access to 

 fume hoods. 



Agency and laboratory facilities managers and researchers provided the 

 following examples of reduced scientific productivity at federal 

 laboratories because of facilities limitations. 



DARc's bioscience building (building 01 lA) is experiencing ventilation 

 problems that have caused respiratory problems among researchers and 

 specifically have led to the closing of two laboratories within the building 

 and the relocation of five researchers since December 1991. The building, 

 completed in 1972, has 78,000 gross square feet of laboratory and office 



