Kraemer provides climate control for new lab

Kraemer Brothers is targeting a December completion for the new Forest Products Laboratory in Madison. Photo courtesy of Kraemer Brothers LLC

Sometimes a little rain will fall — on demand, inside and despite a water-tight roof.

At least that’s the plan for the new U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, which should reach completion by the end of the year.

It’s going to snow in there, too — that is, when there isn’t a scorching heat wave brewing.

In fact, scientists in the research center will have the ability to create nearly any weather condition they want, thanks to a complex system of jet blowers, rain simulation arrays, heat lamps and other features woven into the building’s design.

All of the weather components are linked to a central-control system, from which the many parts can be programmed to simulate outdoor conditions, tepid to tempestuous.

“They’ll have wood structures in this lab space with different wood treatments,” said Dave Vandewater, project manager with general contractor Kraemer Brothers LLC. “It will be raining, baking sun, snowing, sleeting. Over time, they can get an accurate reading of how these wood treatments hold up.”

It’s a type of testing the research organization has never been able to do. Its existing building, a 1930s structure in Madison across the street from the new laboratory, doesn’t have the mechanical structures to allow for it.

The system was custom designed and custom built, making the future facility a one-of-a-kind research space, Vandewater said.

And the weather-simulation research lab is just one area of the new building. The structural lab, marked with high-bay ceilings, also will open up new areas of research.

“They’ll be able to crush materials to determine their strength,” Vandewater said. “They’ll be able to mock up a house and then crush it and then be able to analyze exactly what happened and how.”

Forest Products Laboratory has been in operation in Wisconsin since 1910, and its mission is to learn about wood and composite materials. Its research explores preservation, durability, engineering mechanics and composite sciences.

Its existing facilities fail to provide adequate ventilation in some areas and do not have the electrical and mechanical capabilities needed for a full range of experiments, according to a USDA brochure.

At 90,000 square feet, the new building will be one story, but it will have a mezzanine office level, Vandewater said. In addition to specialized research areas, the facility will include chemistry labs and conference space.

Glass-curtain walls along some faces will let passers-by view activities within the precast-concrete building.

“There will be interesting decorative, vertical wood fins, which recall one of the art deco features from the old building across the street,” Vandewater said. “The original building is a real neat, art deco-style building.

“This will recall some of those features and be real nice-looking.”

— Jennifer Pfaff