THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) has a long history of world-class climate research, much of which has been – and continues to be – supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This proposal requests funds for a significant expansion and improvement of existing ultraclean lab capabilities to enable continued and accelerated progress in the understanding of global climate processes. Areas of climate research that the proposed expansion of the LDEO Ultraclean Geochemistry Lab facilities would impact include: dust in the climate system, North Atlantic ice rafting records and connections to solar forcing, abrupt changes in deep ocean circulation and its relation to climate change, and modern ocean circulation processes. In all of these areas LDEO investigators have world-leading expertise and all contribute directly to NOAA’s strategic goals to understand the processes underlying climate variability and change. LDEO Geochemists use advanced chemical and isotope analysis in the conduct of this research. The separation of trace elements from a broad variety of samples must take place under ultraclean laboratory conditions. The proposed lab is designed and ready to build in the new Comer Geochemistry Building (January, 2008.) The new building replaced a 1950 lab building which is no longer sustainable and has been entirely decommissioned but for the existing clean lab. The new lab was not completed in the new building due to a lack of funds, which this proposal remedies. The need for the new lab is now extremely critical, not only due to its lack of capacity to satisfy the research demands, but because rapidly deteriorating conditions in the old building are making it difficult to maintain the required low particulate level. In addition, the existing lab air handling systems are antiquated, use energy inefficiently, provide inadequate air exchange rates to meet modern safe lab ventilation requirements, fail to regulate temperature and humidity conditions appropriately, and are operating beyond the useful machinery life, sustained by temporary repairs implemented by maintenance staff. The research conducted in the lab poses a unique set of A/E design challenges not typically encountered in industry or other research activities. The research involves the continuous distillation and boil off of highly concentrated acids which dissolve and corrode most standard building materials. Corroded metals can contaminate the samples and blanks prepared in this facility, so all materials exposed in the lab must be non-metallic and resistant to the acids used. Fire and smoke is a constant threat in the facility due to 24 hour/7 day per week processing requirements, which leave hot plates frequently unattended. Toxic acid fumes must be captured and exhausted for the safety of researchers, and an air exchange rate of 40 ACH of constant temperature/humidity, HEPA filtered supply air must be maintained to prevent contamination of research. Air locks and a changing room are required to enter and leave the laboratory, and to achieve the level of productivity necessary to fulfill ongoing research demands, 12 ergonomic workstations are required in a laboratory which is necessarily compact due to the energy demand to maintain low particle counts (< 10 parts per billion). The design challenges have been resolved by identifying a unique manufacturing firm, founded by geochemists, with a track record for producing proprietary innovative fixed equipment for the handful of institutions engaged in high precision research similar to ours around the world. Through the collaborative efforts of the architects, engineers and manufacturer, a design has been achieved that satisfies our stringent project requirements while reducing the supply air to the laboratory by 70% over a conventional clean room, resulting in an estimated energy cost savings of $60,000 per year, and a commensurate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

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