CSS employee owners were part of a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health who developed an approach to evaluating new laboratory space to determine if the space will fit operational needs. This concept, titled The BaseLINE Approach, combines traditional safety processes with additional safety and environmental factors to assess before operations begin. The term “BaseLINE” is a compound acronym of terms that combine these traditional concepts with safety and environmental terms. “Base” refers to the safety aspects of the process (building assessment of safety elements) while “line” covers environmental issues (lighting, indoor air quality, noise, and ergonomics). This assessment helps ensure additional safety measures for laboratory occupants. 

Visit this article to view the full approach.  

Congratulations to the team on this accomplishment!

*Feature photo credit: Hans Reniers, Unsplash

Design Requirements manual cover
The BaseLINE approach is based in the NIH Design Man Requirements.

See More CSS Insights

Satellite image of hurricane approaching Florida

Supporting the Launch of NOAA Data to Inform More Resilient Infrastructure Designs and Structures

Congratulations to NOAA for launching their new Typical Meteorological Year product, developed by the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) as part of the industry initiative. This effort helps make environmental data actionable for architects and engineers designing the next generation of resilient infrastructure. CSS is proud to support this effort and our employee owners who contributed to this product.  The Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) product provides location-specific…

Employees Receive Green Sustainability Award of Excellence

Congratulations to our team supporting the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for receiving the Green Sustainability Award of Excellence. Our team led the charge helping CDC to upgrade their spill cabinets across all campuses (Atlanta, GA; Fort Collins, CO; San Juan, PR), which now include a more sustainable material called Trivorex ®. This highly absorbent…

Examining Cetaceans for Contamination and Pathogens

CSS has employee owners who are experts in monitoring cetacean health. Several CSS scientists supporting NOAA’s Centers for Coastal Ocean Science have recently conducted research and tests on marine mammals to explore uncommon behaviors and causes for strandings. View some examples of this research below. Microplastics are becoming increasingly abundant in coastal and marine environments.…