We are excited to announce that PAYETTE will be leading two sessions at the annual I2SL Annual Conference on September 25-28 in Kansas City, Missouri. Alejandra Menchaca and Lynn Petermann will discuss how thermal comfort and glazing design can be incorporated into lab spaces. Nicholas LaVita and Jeffrey Abramson will lead a presentation on understanding the impact of user behavior and flexibility on plug studies. Jeffrey will also present alongside Ruth McMath of Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc. on how to balance safety needs and aesthetics when designing for lab exhaust systems.
Balancing Act: Safety, Energy Efficiency, and Aesthetics of Laboratory Exhaust Systems
Achieving a safe, effective and energy efficient laboratory ventilation system involves a broad array of considerations. Reducing energy use and cost are only one side of the equation and must be considered from an aesthetic perspective. Through the lens of a single project, this session addresses the question: Is it possible to reduce energy use and cost while maintaining a healthy environment in and around the building as well as aligning with the design aesthetic of the project?
This session, co-presented by PAYETTE and RWDI, explores the range of ventilation design challenges and successful strategies applied to the New Science Center at Amherst College. Charged with responding to the environmental challenges with an efficient and responsible project, the design team sought to decrease energy use through reducing laboratory airflow when conditions allowed. A key component of this efficiency measure was the control of exhaust air systems to allow for variable air flow resulting in reduced heating, cooling and fan energy.
Session Details:
Monday, September 26
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Speaker Details:
Jeffrey Abramson, AIA
Associate, PAYETTE
Ruth McMath
Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc.
Thermal Comfort and Glazing Design in Lab Spaces
Thermal comfort in labs is primarily controlled by mechanical means, allowing these systems to compensate for shortcomings in envelope performance. Moreover, because internal loads drive the energy intensity of lab spaces, minimizing winter time heat losses through glazing is not always top priority. However, the selection of a glazing system is also correlated to the thermal comfort conditions in the space, and a poor glazing choice will likely lead to the use of perimeter heating, increasing the first and operational cost of the facility. A better understanding of how thermal comfort is affected by different glazing performance criteria and geometries in the winter-time allows architects and engineers to make informed decisions when selecting a glazing scenario. This then ensures a comfortable environment for occupants without the need of supplemental perimeter heating strategies. This session will address two factors when designing a glazed opening in cold climates: radiant discomfort and downdraft discomfort, and how each correlates to the glazing U-factor and window geometry. It will cover the physics of glazing heat loss and its impact on comfort, and will rely on a new, publicly available web tool guide the audience through the decision-making process that needs to be followed to ensure a comfortable environment early in the design.
Session Details:
Monday, September 26
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Speaker Details:
Lynn Petermann, AIA
Associate, PAYETTE
Alejandra Menchaca
Building Scientist, PAYETTE
Beyond the Numbers: Understanding the Impact of User Behavior and Flexibility on Plug Load Studies
With advances in heating, cooling and lighting system efficiencies, equipment plug loads can now account for more than half the total energy consumed by a high performance laboratory. HVAC systems in today’s high efficiency laboratories can no longer be designed solely based on “nameplate” rated data, or outdated standard values, but how can measured plug load data be logically applied to the design of new high efficiency laboratories?
This session will examine the benefits, limitations and risks of utilizing measured load data for both HVAC system design and refinement of energy model inputs. Through the lens of a recently completed plug load study at Amherst College, the speakers will share their process for navigating the often inconsistent data and ever-changing user requirements while remaining focused on designing a responsible and energy efficient building. The session will also take a broader look how measured plug load data can be utilized for establishing equipment loads on other projects.
Session Details:
Tuesday, September 27
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Speaker Details:
Jeffrey Abramson, AIA
Associate, PAYETTE
Nicholas LaVita, AIA
Associate, PAYETTE
We are honored to share PAYETTE has received two 2026 Green Good Design Awards from The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies—Land’s Sake Farm and The Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard.
“Green GOOD DESIGN identifies and emphasizes the world’s most important examples of sustainable design and works to develop a public awareness program that informs the general public about which global companies are doing the best job in ecological and sustainable design for our world. Architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning projects, as well as product, packaging, and graphic design projects from over 30 nations were honored with the 2026 Green GOOD DESIGN Award.”
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