Past Events
EMERGING PROFESSIONALS LAB DESIGN 101
3-Part Series
Part 1: April 19, 2023
Part 1: April 19, 2023
Speaker: Amanda Schultz, Executive Vice President, FBPA
Part 2: May 31, 2023
Speaker: James Woods, Associate Principal, Mazetti
Speaker: Chris Weyandt, Control Systems Engineer, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
This seminar is geared toward emerging professionals already in the field who would like to have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of lab design, or university students thinking of expanding their opportunities by learning more about the field.
2022 Annual Conference Recap + Social
Top Bay Area laboratory leaders shared their presentations from the national I2SL Conference, which was held in Pittsburgh, PA in October 2022.
allogene therapeutics tour
I2SL NorCal hosted an exciting all-electric lab tour and panel discussion at Allogene Therapeutics
The event featured simultaneous facility tours and networking with appetizers and drinks, followed by a panel discussion about the sustainable features of the facility.
Panelists
Ben Beneski Vice President, Manufacturing Site Head at Allogene Therapeutics
Charles Doan, Sr. Director EHS & Security at Allogene Therapeutics
George Scott, Senior Director Facilities and Engineering at Allogene Therapeutics, Cell Forge One
Tyler Tsang, Senior Director of Quality Control at Allogene Therapeutics
Jeff Wegner Energy + Sustainability SME, Associate at CRB
More About Allogene Therapeutics
Allogene Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR T™) products for cancer. Led by a management team with significant experience in cell therapy, Allogene is developing a pipeline of “off-the-shelf” CAR T cell candidates with the goal of delivering readily available cell therapy on-demand, more reliably, and at greater scale to more patients.
I2SL NorCal: BrinGing smart labs to california
I2SL NorCal hosted a discussion about the Smart Labs process, which optimizes lab safety and regularly achieves whole building energy saving of 20-40%.
Panelists:
Alison Farmer, Director, KW Engineering
Deirdre Carter, Energy & Sustainability Manager, LBNL
Karla Arredondo, Ventilation, HEPA and Robotics Program Manager, LBNL
Allen Doyle, Safety & Sustainability Specialist, 3Flow
Wendell Brase, Associate Chancellor for Sustainability, UC Irvine
I2SL NorCal and I2SL New England HOSTED the MiT NANO Center virtual tour & Panel
Panelists:
Travis Wanat, Sr. Project Manager, MIT - Capital Projects Group
Scott Lebow, Sr. Project Manager, HGA Architects & Engineers
Marcell Graeff, Sustainability Lead, HGA Architects & Engineers
Jacob Knowles, Director of Sustainable Design, BR+A
I2sL Norcal annual conference recap
Presentations:
Electrification and Decarbonization of Research Facilities presented by John McDonald of Smithgroup (20-25 min)
What a Difference FDD Makes (at Stanford) presented by Alison Farmer of KW Engineering and Leslie Kramer of Stanford University (20-25 min)
California Mandatory Regulation for Fume Hood Sash Closers and Exhaust Contaminant Measures presented by Victor Neuman of Laboratory Exhaust Certification
2020 Virtual I2sL Annual Conference
The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) hosted its 2020 Annual Conference and Technology Fair Virtually!
Presentations included lab owners, operators, designers, and engineers discussing the most pressing safety and sustainability topics affecting labs during COVID-19 and in the future.
ASHRAE and I2SL NorCal Presented: Lab Considerations Through a Pandemic
Panelists:
Lyn Gomes, MEP Coordinator at DPR Construction
James Falconer, M.E., Principal at Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Todd See, PE, LEED BD+C, Principal at WSP
Michele Sagehorn, CEM, LEED AP, Principal - Commissioning Authority at Red Car Analytics
Martin Gicklehorn, Principal/Lab Planner/President at GL Planning
Topics:
Current challenges related to HVAC systems during a pandemic
Production vs. safety when bringing employees back into the laboratory
Sustainability and energy consumption
My Green Lab
Guest speakers from My Green Lab covered the topic of sustainability in scientific research.
Guest speakers included James Connelly and Rachel Ralph
They discussed trends in sustainability and biotech, how to achieve Green Lab Certification, and other benefits of going green with your lab.
OUR SPEAKERS:
Moderator: Jonathan Eisenberg, ARUP
Lisa Churchill, Associate Principal, ARUP
Patrick Daley, Gritstone Oncology
Jim Doughty, CIH, Senior Program Manager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Koray Kaya, Principal Engineer, AlfaTech
Ted Palashis, President, Overbrook Support Services
Kelley Raasch, CSP, Associate Director of EHS, The Broad Institute
Mary Jo Spector, Director of Research Facilities, Design, Construction, and Maintenance, Florida State University
Wednesday July 8th
Town Hall Webinar
COVID-19 changed the way laboratories operate, from academic institutions to research and development protocols. To continue this important conversation as labs consider reopening and retooling for the future, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) hosted its second free town hall on the topic, COVID-19 Challenges and Successes for Designing and Operating Safe and Sustainable Labs.
A panel of experts from university and pharmaceutical laboratories on the East and West Coast addressed the top questions facing lab owners, operators, engineers, and designers today as we learned to adapt to COVID-19 concerns:
Successes/challenges surrounding social distancing in labs, common areas such as elevators, or non-lab buildings,
How the pandemic is challenging lab design requirements, new and retrofit, from both a safety and sustainability angle.
How you can prioritize sustainability when addressing air quality/exchanges to keep labs safer and still energy-efficient.
The I2SL Northern California and New England Chapters co-hosted this town hall with the generous support of local sponsors and in conjunction with the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) and the San Francisco Chapter of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). This town hall is the second in a series of events I2SL provided to discuss lessons learned about safe and sustainable lab stoppage and start-up; watch the first one, Returning to the Operational Laboratory Environment During COVID-19, which is free to the public.
Please email any questions to Terry Stelter
Click Here to follow I2SL NorCal on LinkedIn
Cal/OSHA Fumehood Requirements and What Can Be Done About Them
Hosted by: I2SL NorCal / ISPE SF webinar on
Cal OSHA requires that fumehood face velocity be maintained at 100 feet per minute. While it’s not necessarily true that 100 FPM is any safer than a lower face velocity, it’s also not necessarily true that a lower face velocity saves you energy. This session looked at:
How we specify and operate fumehoods in order to reduce our energy consumption while still maintaining safety
Is it worth seeking a variance for a lower face velocity?
Should we be looking to lobby for changing this regulation?
Lab Tour/talk
AstraZeneca’s New Oyster Point Facility
After the tour, guests met in a conference room at AstraZeneca for appetizers, drinks, and networking, followed by a panel of lab experts who spoke about the sustainable strategies they used to build and run AstraZeneca & sustainable practices their companies implement on similar buildings.
Paul Long, Director, Site Operations at AstraZeneca
Sam D'Avanzo, Senior Project Manager, XL Construction
Rob Williamson, Principal & Leader of Science + Technology at HOK
Michael Charney, Principal at Spectrum PMG
MC for Panel: Cynthia Ruby, CEO at Cynthia Ruby and Associates & I2SL NorCal Events Committee Member
sustainable Labs Mixer
At DPR in San Francisco, fellow sustainable lab enthusiasts networked and discussed the latest in sustainable lab design, construction, and operation.
Special Guest, Ron Silberstein, Owner & Brewmaster at ThirstyBear provided complimentary beer tastings and gave an interesting presentation on the process of beer making and sustainable practices in their business. ThirstyBear is the first and only brewery in San Francisco to brew certified organic beer and become a certified Green Business!
Genentech sustainability Meeting
The event included a tour of Genentech's pilot plant as well as an overview of sustainable lab practices presented by Kristi Budzinski (Genentech Green Chemistry/BioPharma Program Manager).
The discussion also included strategies to Implement the Roche Directive K6 to eliminate all CFCs HCFCs, and HFCs and other chemicals that are harmful to the environment at Genentech presented by Cassie Waddell (Genentech Principal Engineer) and Mark Kehoe (Affiliated Engineers Project Manager)

Joint Local ASHRAE /I2SL Meeting
This meeting covered Designing Safe and Energy Efficient Laboratory Exhaust Systems under the 2019 California Title 24 Regulations, presented by Brad Cochran
2018 I2SL Annual Conference recap
Three top Bay Area laboratory leaders shared their presentations from the conference, which was held in Raleigh, North Carolina in October. We learned about the upcoming new I2SL/DOE lab benchmarking tool, the latest in green lab certifications and sustainable procurement, and the mechanical design of an outstanding new, modern laboratory facility. The future of sustainable labs has never looked so great.