Bloomfield construction contractor Bartlett Brainard Eacott (BBE) has signed onto a voluntary federal program that promotes improving the environmental performance of U.S. labs.
The Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21) program includes corporate, academic, and government participants who are committed to improving energy and water efficiency, encouraging the use of renewable energy sources, and promoting environmental stewardship in the nation’s laboratories.
Labs21 is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.
It is similar to the LEED certification program for the design and construction of energy-efficient residential and commercial buildings.
Because of stringent ventilation requirements and other health and safety concerns, the average laboratory uses at least five times as much energy as a typical office building, said BBE’s chief estimator Gerry Holland.
“We understand the bottom line benefits of designing with energy efficiency in mind,” Holland said. “By supporting Labs21, we’re looking forward to becoming a part of great things, in part by tapping into a whole network of organizations with similar environmental goals.”
BBE has built bioscience, chemical and electronics laboratories for, among others, Yale University, Hamilton Sundstrand, Pratt & Whitney and private schools such as Westminster in Simsbury.
