Improvement to the Animal Facility HVAC System at the Monell Chemical Senses Center

莫内尔化学感官中心动物设施 HVAC 系统的改进

基本信息

批准号：
8902318
负责人：
DANIELLE Renee REED
金额：
$ 49.78万
依托单位：
MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2015-07-15 至 2018-07-14
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8902318
关键词：
Accounting Accreditation Affect Age Aging Air American Animal Housing Animal Model Animals Biology Breeding Caring Chemicals Cities Comparative Biology Complement Contracts Deterioration Emergency Situation Engineering Ensure Environment Extravasation Failure Ferrets Funding Goals Guidelines Health Heart Heating Humidity IACUC Institutes Laboratory Animal Medicine Laboratory Animals Lead Licensing Location Maintenance Major Histocompatibility Complex Mechanics Microtus Miniature Swine Mission Mus Paper Parents Particulate Pennsylvania Plumbing Principal Investigator Procedures Publishing Rattus Recovery Reporting Research Research Institute Research Project Grants Role Safety Science Scientist Sensory Services Shrews Side Smell Perception System Taste Buds Taste Perception Temperature Testing Time Training United States United States Department of Agriculture United States National Institutes of Health Universities Update Veterinarians Work animal care animal facility authority building renovation college design and construction exhaust experience human disease improved non-compliance nonhuman primate offspring operation programs square foot sweet taste perception

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of this application is to improve the Animal Facility of the Monell Chemical Senses Center and facilitate its accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). A not-for-profit research institute [501(c)(3)], Monell was founded in 1968 with a unique mission to investigate the basic biology of taste and smell. This institute, originally part of the University of Pennsylvania, is in the heart of the University City Science Center, the largest and oldest urban research center in the United States. Monell's research is supported predominantly by the National Institutes of Health and other governmental agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The annual research conducted at Monell totals $16M. Animals -- mostly mice, rats, and ferrets -- are now used by 12 research programs at Monell and account for nearly $6M research dollars spent annually. Most research now is conducted with mice, but in the past, animal studies have used nonhuman primates, meadow voles, musk shrews, mini-swine, and wild-caught animals housed in the facility. Research projects on taste and smell conducted with animals housed at Monell have resulted in discoveries that have influenced the direction and scope of research programs on taste and smell, nationally and internationally. For instance, the sweet taste receptor was identified in a mouse study at Monell, as was the role of the major histocompatibility complex in parents' ability to identify offspring by smell. Monell is also well known for its work on comparative biology. Monell's current facility of animal care was established in 1971. In 1989 it was gutted and rebuilt, in part with NIH funds. The animal care and use program at Monell is well developed: It has operated successfully for the past 43 years and is licensed by the USDA, with no non-compliant findings. Our goal is to update our ~10,800 square foot Animal Facility and obtain accreditation by AAALAC. To accomplish this goal, we need to replace the air-handling unit that supplies the Animal Facility. This unit functions poorly and is in imminent danger of failing due to its age. Its lack of redundancy makes maintenance difficult, because emergency procedures must often be used to support the animal environment while work is performed on it. The prospect of catastrophic failure grows more likely with each passing month. Although temperature and humidity can usually be maintained within the range required for animal safety, these parameters often deviate too much for optimal research conditions, with unacceptable swings in humidity becoming increasingly common. Moreover, the amount of heat recovery has decreased over time and this deficit has accelerated recently due to deterioration of the system's coils. This problem is very difficult to fix, because the tight location of key parts of the unit makes cleaning and servicing the heat exchange coils almost impossible. There is also an immediate concern that leakage in the discharge side of the exhaust ductwork may lead to air-borne contaminants (particulate material) that could affect the health of our animals and interfere with sensory testing in our research programs. Our plan is to replace the aging primary air-handling system with a new system that features redundancy, ease of maintenance access, significantly improved energy recovery, and corrections to the exhaust system to reduce air-borne particulates. This new system is projected to be at least 20% more energy efficient over the existing unit's peak efficiency (which is no longer realized) and will provide significantly better control over temperature and humidity. Monell has a clear line of authority for managing its Animal Facility. Monell's Director supervises the Director of Facilities Management, who manages the Animal Facility and the program of animal care under the guidance of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). She has nearly three decades of experience in this role, has managed several major renovations at Monell over the years, and will be the Project Manager. An expert Building Engineer, who is responsible for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical aspects of the buildings, reports to the Director of Facilitie Management. The Principal Investigator of this application is a scientist with 30 years of experience at Monell, with funded projects that rely heavily on mouse breeding and over 100 published papers on animal models of human disease, who also has served on Monell's IACUC. An experienced American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine board-certified laboratory animal Attending Veterinarian has been guiding Monell's program of animal care and use since 1982, including the original design and construction of the Animal Facility, IACUC responsibilities and functions, animal care operations, veterinary care, training, and compliance. The expert Mechanical Engineer that Monell contracted for this application has project management expertise, has participated in many major renovations of this building, and provided detailed line drawings for this application. He complements the expert and experienced team that Monell has assembled for this essential renovation project. Air-handling renovations described in this proposal will result in necessary and important improvements to Monell's facilities of animal care, thereby ensuring the health and safety of its animals and the quality of chemosensory research on which Monell relies. By replacing the most obsolete part of the Animal Facility, we will ensure that environmental conditions for the animals will be within the AAALAC accreditation guidelines.

描述（由应用提供）：本应用的目的是改善Monell Chemical Senses中心的动物设施，并促进其对实验动物护理评估和认证协会（AAAALAC）协会的认证。 Monell是一家非营利性研究所[501（c）（3）]，成立于1968年，其独特的使命是研究味道和气味的基本生物学。该研究所最初是宾夕法尼亚大学的一部分，是美国最大，最古老的城市研究中心大学城市科学中心的中心。莫内尔的研究主要得到美国国立卫生研究院和其他政府机构（例如美国农业部）的支持。在Monell进行的年度研究总计1600万美元。动物（主要是小鼠，大鼠和雪貂）现在在Monell的12个研究计划中使用，每年花费近600万美元的研究美元。现在，大多数研究都是用小鼠进行的，但是过去，动物研究使用了非人类的隐私，草地田鼠，肌肉sh，迷你翅和设施中的野生动物。关于莫内尔（Monell）的动物进行的味觉和气味的研究项目导致了发现的发现，这些发现影响了有关在国内和国际上的味觉和嗅觉研究计划的方向和范围。例如，在Monell的一项小鼠研究中发现了甜味接收器，主要的组织相容性复合物在父母通过气味识别后代的能力中的作用也是如此。 Monell也因其在比较生物学方面的工作而闻名。 Monell目前的动物护理设施成立于1971年。1989年，它被NIH资金进行了污染和重建。 Monell的动物护理和使用计划的发展良好：它在过去的43年中成功运作，并获得了USDA的许可，没有不合规的发现。我们的目标是更新我们约10,800平方英尺的动物设施，并获得AAAALAC的认证。为了实现这一目标，我们需要替换提供动物设施的空气处理单元。该单元的功能较差并且正处于由于年龄而失败的危险。它的缺乏冗余使维护变得困难，因为在进行工作时，必须经常使用紧急程序来支持动物环境。每个月的灾难性失败的前景越来越大。尽管通常可以将温度和湿度保持在动物安全所需的范围内，但这些参数通常偏离最佳研究条件，而湿度的不可接受波动变得越来越普遍。此外，随着时间的流逝，热量回收量减少，由于确定系统线圈，该防御最近加速了。这个问题很难解决，因为设备的关键部分的紧密位置使清洁和维修热交换线圈几乎不可能。还有一个立即关注的问题是，排气管的排放侧泄漏可能会导致空气污染物（颗粒物材料），这可能会影响我们动物的健康并干扰我们的研究计划中的感觉测试。我们的计划是用一个新系统替换老化的主要空气处理系统，该系统具有冗余，易于维护访问，可显着改善能源回收以及对排气系统的校正，以减少空气组件。在现有单元的峰值效率上（不再实现），该新系统预计将至少提高20％的能源效率，并将为温度和湿度提供更好的控制。莫内尔（Monell）具有管理其动物设施的明确权力。莫内尔的主任监督设施管理总监，该主管在机构动物护理和使用委员会（IACUC）的指导下管理动物设施和动物护理计划。她在这个职位上拥有将近三十年的经验，多年来在Monell进行了几次重大翻新，并将担任项目经理。一名专业的建筑工程师，负责建筑物的电气，管道和机械方面，并向Facilitie Management报告。该应用程序的主要研究者是一位科学家，在Monell拥有30年的经验，资助的项目依赖于小鼠育种，并就人类疾病动物模型发表了100多篇发表的论文，他们也曾在Monell的IACUC中服过。自1982年以来，经验丰富的美国实验室动物医学委员会认证的实验室动物一直在指导Monell的动物护理和使用计划，包括动物设施的原始设计和建设，IACUC责任操作，兽医保健，培训，培训和合规性。 Monell为此应用程序签约的专家机械工程师具有项目管理专业知识，参加了该建筑物的许多重大翻新，并为此应用提供了详细的线条图。他完成了Monell为这个基本改革项目组成的专家和经验丰富的团队。该提案中描述的空中处理改革将为Monell的动物护理设施带来必要而重要的改进，从而确保其动物的健康和安全及其质量 Monell依赖的化学感应研究。通过更换动物设施中最过时的部分，我们将确保动物的环境条件在AAAALAC认证指南内。