MRB Researchers: New Info on Pending Shutdown

On June 15, we alerted you to the pending shutdown of the Medical Research Building, scheduled for June 24th through 26th. We attended the open forum held by OHSU Facilities on June 16 and here’s what we learned:

The engineers now believe they will need to take the cooling system offline only from 7 p.m. Friday, June 24th to 9 a.m. Saturday, June 25th. This shorter time period should minimize the impact to research areas that are temperature-sensitive. In the meantime, OHSU Facilities is working closely with relevant department administrators, faculty, and veterinary staff to make sure these areas are highly monitored and to take necessary precautions to keep temperatures stable. The animal and fish rooms were discussed, as well as freezer areas. Here are some key points:

• Portable cooling units will be available to support critical functions within the building.
• The forum had representatives from some of the labs in the MRB, department administration with labs in those areas, and staff from the Department of Comparative Medicine, raising issues to make sure they were addressed.
• Again, if you are concerned about your lab because you could not make the forum, contact Kim Lovelace, 4-6615 or 503-804-4634to arrange for temporary cooling during the shutdown.
• Contingency plans are being developed in case the shutdown lasts longer than expected or in the highly, highly unlikely event of hot weather.
• ALL MRB researchers are asked to please turn off any nonessential equipment (e.g. your computer) over the weekend, since all of it gives off heat.

The reason for the shutdown is to improve the longterm energy efficiency–as well as reduce costs–of the MRB by installing new cooling systems in the building.