104 



Most of BARC's laboratory space is old and does not meet current scientific stan- 

 dards or program needs. Expanding research needs, combined with a lack of new con- 

 struction funds, forced the conversion of a variety of non-laboratory facilities into labs. 

 Even the headhouses (potting rooms) of greenhouses and pig bams have been con- 

 verted into labs. Many of the laboratory facilities are wholly inadequate. In one base- 

 ment lab, equipment has been placed on stilts to keep it from being damaged from 

 periodic floods. In another, rain from a leaky roof damaged computer equipment. The 

 center consists of over 890 separate structures. Program laboratories are frequently 

 disjpersed into several different buildings - causing scientists to shuttle back and forth. 

 Difficulties with the ventilation system in the center's bioscience building have caused 

 respiratory problems with some researchers. 



Despite the poor conditions, BARC is a national - even international - leader in 

 some fields. BARC's nutrition center is a leader in nutrition research and has the only 

 Calorimeter - a device to measure human calorie expenditures - in the United States. 

 However, infrastructural problems limit the scientific capabilities of the nutrition cen- 

 ter. BARC is seeking funding for a new nutrition center. 



BARC is in the midst of a $205 million modernization program. Congress has 

 made $70 million of this available. 



1) How do conditions at BARC impact the center's scientific mission? 



2) How much money is needed to address the center's facility needs? 

 (Answer: $150 to $200 million.) 



3) How do infrastructural problems hinder the Nutrition Center's ability to 

 meet new research requirements? 



(Answer: They would like to get the nutrition center project entered 

 into the record.) 



The National Institutes of Health (NIH) 



On average, NIH laboratories are in better shape than most other agencies. The 

 backlog of facility needs is small and maintenance and repair budgets are considered 

 adequate. However, some problems do exist. The National Heart, Lung and Blood 

 Institute's labs have almost all of the problems experienced at other labs. The most 

 pressing infrastructural need at the NHi is a new clinical center. The existing clinical 

 center is 38 years old. The fire safety, electrical power, lighting, ventilation, air condi- 

 tioning and plumbing stems all have insufficient capacity to meet current and future 

 needs, in 1991, an Army Corp of Engineers committee endorsed the construction of a 

 new clinical center as the best long term solution. 



1) How have laboratory conditions impacted the scientific mission of NIH? 



2) What is NIH's most pressing infrastructural need - what studies have been 

 done to assess these needs? 



The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 



While NASA has a relatively large ($718 million) backlog of maintenance and re- 

 pair needs, the agency still provides a good example of how to address the problems 

 of poor facilities conditions and underinvestment in maintenance and repair. NASA 

 listed inadequate maintenance of laboratories and facilities as a material weakness in 

 its Financial Integrity Act reports for 1989-1991. A 1990 GAO study found diat many 

 NASA facilities had not been adequately maintained and were in degraded condition. 

 However, since 1990, NASA increased maintenance and repair funding to the 2% 

 level suggested by the Building Rematch Board. The agency no longer lists 



