"The [new] facility is viewed as absolutely state of the art," Paul Hoffman, director of medical research at the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, recently told UF's alumni magazine. "The opportunity to do high-resolution imaging there is probably unsurpassed in the world." The facility's customized labs include:

• Pediatric neurology.
• Neurological surgery, with a 20-station teaching lab.
• Structural biology, with four NMRs (including a 12-Tesla, 40-cm-bore NMR).
• Stereotactic and radiosurgery research center, with a 6-Mev linear accelerator for both human and animal research.
• Animal resource facility, with holding rooms, operation rooms, and support areas.
• Human Applications Laboratory for cGMP production of human gene therapy vectors and tissues and cells.
• Support facilities (computer imaging, electron microscopy, common instrument labs, cold rooms, BSL-3 biocontainment facility, lecture halls, demonstration labs).

The $35 million construction budget included an $18 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Defense. The university contributed more than $40 million in construction and inkind matching funds. Additional federal grants to pay for equipment have totaled about $20 million since 1996.

Building organization Flad & Associates' Gainesville office served as project architect. The design team's solution to the university's program placed the teaching and conference facilities on the first two floors at the "front" or mall side of the building, with mechanical and support spaces to the "back" or service side. (The facility anchors the east axis of a planned pedestrian mall along the north side of the campus's existing Health Center Complex.)

Floors 3 and 4 consist of labs. The 5th floor houses animal facilities and biocontainment areas, as well as the cGMP suite. On all three of these floors, office and conference rooms, lobbies, and rest rooms face the mall, with labs clustered at the rear. Lab services are generally distributed through vertical chases that branch horizontally into each floor.

Research and teaching labs required a total of 57 variable air volume fume hoods (supplied by Fisher Hamilton), plus five biosafety cabinets. Hoods are equipped with Phoenix Controls' Zone Presence Sensor system for airflow regulation, making the hood-intensive facility more energy-efficient. In addition, the system's venturi valves have sound attenuators for greatly reduced noisc levels.

"The labs are very quiet; people really comment on it," says Joe Limpert, principal/ project manager with Affiliated Engineers of Gainesville, the consulting engineering firm for the project.

HVAC design Four separate air handling units are situated on the ground floor: one for the lab unit served by the linear accelerator; one for ground-floor offices; one for the NMRs; and one for the 280-person auditorium.

Other air handlers include a 55,000 cfm, once-through unit on the fifth floor, dedicated to the vivarium; the main recirculating VAV office system (50,000 cfm); two penthouselevel units for the cGMP lab; and a semicustom, 150,000 cfm, once-through system for labs on the ground through fourth floors.

"Labs are served by a modular component system with coils laid out in a space-saving configuration," says Limpert. "Systems are redundant so if we lose a fan we still have 63% of capacity. With variable volume, you can practically run normally on that amount."

Major mechanical systems for hood exhaust are in penthouse and roof facilities, while fresh supply air comes in at the second level at the back of the building. Initially, designers specified standard centrifugal exhaust fans. As the team realized how much ductwork was going to be required to manifold all five floors to the fans, they began to consider an alternative approach.

Eventually, on the recommendation of construction manager Dick Dutro (Bovis Construction, Altamonte Springs, Fla.), the team selected Strobic Air's Tri-Stack high-velocity fan system. The system's plenums allow for duct risers to penetrate from the bottom, eliminating rooftop ductwork.

Says Limpert, "We found that we would save about $300,000 using seven Tri-Stack systems with 31 fans, instead of running ductwork up to the roof and using conventional centrifugal fans. Part of the savings came from the fact that it took the contractor less time to install these systems. With centrifugal fans we would have had to build the necessary fan stacks on site."

Cooling, a priority in Florida, is handled with an off-site chilled water plant that also serves a hospital in the complex. The 4,800 ton-capacity facility was a separate project that will ultimately support future buildings as well.

Steam for heating hot water comes from a university cogeneration plant, while steam for vivarium humidification is generated in-housc with reverse osmosis/deionized water. The central RO/DI system also supplies water to the labs, some of which have point-of-usc stations for further purification.

Electrical demand The Brain Institute typically operates 16 hours a day, and its intensive schedule and special equipment create a high demand for electrical power. In addition to its supercomputer-equipped Computing and Information Technology Services facility for intensive imaging and other applications, the facility includes several sophisticated microscopes; a surgical research and training lab with eight to 16 dissection stations (each with remote-controlled lights, overhead cameras, suction, irrigation, high-speed drills, and other instruments); and a great array of inlab multimedia computers and data archiving/ distribution equipment.

Most of the building has been wired for two-way visual communication via multimedia computer. A lecture hall tabletop system, developed in conjunction with Audio Visual Innovations, has integrated computer ports and power outlets at each seat.

Says Limpert, "There are several very interesting labs in the facility, and all the communications and HVAC equipment had to be quiet to maximize performance. Lighting levels had to be precisely controlled. The building is supplied with redundant power feeders: one supplying 'dirty' equipment like lights and HVAC, and the other with clean power for the labs.

"There is a switchgear with a tiebreaker so the whole building can be served by either feeder if necessary. The building is also equipped with transient voltage surge suppression to protect sensitive equipment."

Eventually, the university plans to build a Neuro-Clinical Research Center within its existing Shands Hospital. The patient care facility will help translate the Brain Institute's fundamental discoveries to the clinical realm. Central nervous system disorders are the nation's most expensive health problem, with a total estimated cost of more than $0.5 trillion per year. The Brain Institute, with its mulitfaceted equipment and personnel, should make a significant contribution to analysis and treatment of these problems for many decades to come. Julie S.Higginbotham, editor

Contact: Univ. of Florida Brain Institute, www.uflbi.ufl. edu ufbi/; Audio Visual Innovations, 800282-6733, www.aviinc.com; Fisher Hamilton, 920-793-1121, www.fisherhamilton. com; Flad & Associates, 352-377-6884, www.flad.com; Phoenix Controls, 617-964-6670, www.phoenixcontrols.com; Strobic Air, a subsidiary of Met-Pro Corp., 800SAC-FANS, www.strobicair.com.