Two Environmental Testing Laboratory Renovations: Mostardi Platt, Pittsburgh and Austin
Mostardi Platt needed matching laboratory renovations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Austin, Texas. Labs USA supplied both: SEFA 8 inset steel casework, epoxy resin work surfaces and sinks, a bench mounted chemical fume hood, and safety fittings, specified as one package for two cities.
The Situation
Mostardi Platt is an environmental consulting and emissions testing firm. Its laboratories analyze stack emissions, air samples, and related environmental media, and the results support regulatory compliance for industrial clients. That places an unusual requirement on the laboratory itself: the data has to withstand scrutiny, so the environment producing it has to be defensible, consistent, and documented.
This project covered two laboratories in two states at once. One in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and one in Austin, Texas were being renovated in the same program. That is a harder problem than two separate projects, because a multi-site testing firm wants the same methods run the same way in every location. If the casework, work surfaces, sinks, and fume hood differ between sites, the procedures diverge, staff cannot move between locations without retraining, and the firm’s own quality system has two variants of everything to maintain.
Sample preparation for emissions work is also genuinely corrosive. Acid digestions and extractions attack ordinary surfaces, and the reagents that make the analysis work are the same reagents that destroy furniture chosen on price. Both laboratories needed surfaces and cabinetry specified for that chemistry, plus a proper fume hood for the acid work, plus safety fittings that would satisfy an inspector without a discussion.
Timing mattered as much as specification. Both renovations were scheduled, and a testing firm’s laboratory downtime is directly billable work that does not get done. The package had to be coordinated so that neither site waited on the other.
The Solution
Labs USA specified and supplied both laboratories from one coordinated package: powder coated inset steel casework meeting SEFA 8, one inch thick black epoxy resin work surfaces with four inch splashes, epoxy resin drop-in sinks, a thirty six inch bench mounted chemical fume hood, safety fittings, and countertop flammable storage, with freight arranged to both cities.
The fume hood is the piece the acid work depends on. It is a thirty six inch wide bench mounted chemical hood with a chain driven vertical rising sash, galvanized steel pan construction, an open bypass, a polyglass interior lining, stainless steel duct collars, and a black dished epoxy resin work surface. The open bypass matters operationally: as the sash is lowered, the bypass keeps face velocity in a usable range instead of letting it spike, so the hood behaves consistently rather than only at one sash position. The dished work surface contains a spill inside the hood rather than letting it run out onto the bench.
The casework is powder coated inset steel from a laboratory grade cornerstone line, with painted steel drawer bodies, one hundred pound full extension drawer glides, brushed stainless steel wire pulls, and thirteen inch deep by thirty inch tall wall cabinets with solid swinging doors. It has been independently tested to meet or exceed SEFA 8, the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association standard for laboratory casework, which is the reference an auditor recognizes. All painted steel was finished in one specified white so the two laboratories match.
Work surfaces are one inch thick black epoxy resin with four inch splashes where the drawings called for them. Epoxy resin is the standard choice where acid digestion happens, because it tolerates concentrated acids, solvents, and heat without staining or swelling. Sinks are black epoxy resin drop-in units, twenty five by fifteen by eleven inches deep with tail pieces, so the drainage path is as chemically resistant as the counter around it.
Fittings were specified to match: hot and cold mixing faucets with vacuum breakers, serrated hose ends, and blade handles in a polished chrome finish, plus a four gallon countertop flammable storage cabinet with welded double wall eighteen gauge construction, a three point latching system, self closing self latching doors with fusible links, and high visibility safety signage. Every one of those details is something an inspector looks for. Compare configurations on the laboratory fume hood and laboratory casework hubs.
Features
Advantage
Standardizing across sites is the quiet advantage in this project. When a testing firm’s laboratories are furnished identically, a method validated in one is executable in the other, staff transfer without relearning the room, and the quality system describes one configuration instead of several. The way to get that is to specify and buy both laboratories together, from the same source, in the same package.
The other advantage is chemical honesty in the specification. Acid digestion work destroys furniture that was chosen on appearance. Epoxy resin tops and sinks, inset steel casework, and a properly configured bypass fume hood are the correct answers for that chemistry, and they are the answers that survive an audit as well as the reagents.
- Identical specification, cabinetry and finish across two laboratories in two states
- SEFA 8 tested casework, the standard auditors and specifiers recognize
- Epoxy resin surfaces and sinks selected for acid digestion and extraction
- Open bypass hood so face velocity stays usable across sash positions
- Safety fittings, flammable storage and drench-ready plumbing specified in
- Freight coordinated to both cities so neither renovation waited on the other
Labs USA quotes multi-site laboratory programs as one package with per-site pricing and freight, which keeps the specification identical while letting each location be scheduled and installed on its own timeline. Stocked casework typically ships in a few weeks; a fume hood is the long lead item and drives the schedule, so it goes on order first.
Benefits
The direct benefit is two laboratories that work the same way. Sample prep, digestion, and clean-up follow the same steps in Pittsburgh and Austin because the benches, sinks, hood, and storage are the same, which is exactly what a firm producing regulatory data wants.
The safety benefit is that the room stops depending on individual behaviour. A bypass hood that holds usable face velocity, a flammable cabinet with self closing doors and fusible links, faucets with vacuum breakers, and chemically appropriate surfaces mean the correct outcome is the default outcome rather than something that has to be remembered.
The durability benefit is measured over the renovation cycle. Inset steel casework and epoxy resin surfaces are the configuration that stands up to acid work for decades. Renovating a laboratory is disruptive to a testing firm’s billable schedule, and the way to renovate less often is to specify correctly this time.
Inset steel casework tested to SEFA 8: steel drawer bodies, one hundred pound full extension glides, and a finish specified identically for both laboratories.
Return on Investment
For an environmental testing firm the return is billable capacity. Laboratory downtime is revenue that does not happen, so a renovation that is specified once, ordered as one package, and scheduled around the long lead item returns more than a cheaper package that stalls mid-installation waiting for a hood.
Standardization returns money continuously and quietly. One specification means one set of procedures, one training path, one spare parts list, and staff who can move between Pittsburgh and Austin and be productive immediately. Firms that let each site buy its own furniture pay for the divergence every year in documentation and retraining.
The avoided cost is surface replacement. Acid digestion on inappropriate work surfaces produces stained, swollen, failing tops within a few years, and replacing them means shutting a working laboratory again. Epoxy resin tops and sinks cost more once and remove that cycle entirely.
Project Process
Drawings and correspondence
Labs USA worked from the firm’s drawings and correspondence for both the Pittsburgh and Austin laboratories to establish scope for each room.
Specification
Inset steel SEFA 8 casework, epoxy resin tops and sinks, a thirty six inch bypass bench fume hood, fittings, and flammable storage were specified identically for both sites.
Proposal
Both laboratories were quoted in one package with separate line items and freight for each city, so each site could be scheduled independently.
Order sequencing
The fume hood, as the long lead item, was released first; stocked casework and surfaces followed on a shorter cycle.
Delivery to two cities
Materials shipped to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Austin, Texas, coordinated so neither renovation waited on the other.
Installation and support
Casework set and leveled, tops and sinks installed, fittings connected, and Labs USA available for additions at either location.
Environmental Laboratories in Pittsburgh, Austin and Nationwide
Environmental testing firms follow industry. Pittsburgh sits in a heavy manufacturing, steel, and energy corridor with decades of stack testing and air quality work; Austin serves fast growing Texas industrial, semiconductor, and energy markets. Serving both means running laboratories in two very different regions to one internal standard, which is exactly what this program was built to do.
Labs USA supplies environmental, industrial, and analytical laboratories nationwide from Salt Lake City, and multi-site programs are routine work here. Fume hoods, casework and work surfaces, laboratory tables, balance tables, and source capture extraction can all be specified to one standard and shipped to every location.
If you operate laboratories in more than one city, call (801) 855-8560. We will write one specification, quote each site with its own freight, and sequence the long lead items so nobody is waiting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SEFA 8?
The Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association standard for laboratory casework, covering structural, chemical, and finish performance. The casework supplied here is independently tested to meet or exceed it.
Why epoxy resin work surfaces for environmental testing?
Acid digestion and solvent extraction are routine in emissions analysis. Epoxy resin tolerates concentrated acids, solvents, and heat without staining or swelling, which most cheaper surfaces do not.
What does an open bypass do on a fume hood?
As the sash lowers, the bypass admits air above the sash so face velocity stays in a usable range instead of spiking, which makes the hood behave consistently at any sash position.
Why a dished work surface inside the hood?
It contains a spill inside the hood instead of letting it run out onto the bench, and it makes cleaning the hood interior straightforward.
Can Labs USA supply matching laboratories in different states?
Yes. This project furnished laboratories in Pennsylvania and Texas from one specification, with freight quoted separately to each city.
What is the lead time on a bench mounted fume hood?
Fume hoods are the long lead item on a laboratory package and are quoted individually; stocked casework and surfaces typically follow on a much shorter cycle.
Why inset steel casework rather than wood?
Painted steel with inset doors handles corrosive laboratory chemistry, cleans easily, and keeps its finish over decades of use. Wood casework has its place in dry teaching spaces, not in acid digestion rooms.
What safety fittings should a wet laboratory include?
At minimum, faucets with vacuum breakers to protect the water supply, appropriate flammable and corrosive storage, and eyewash or drench provisions. All were specified in this package.
Furnishing Laboratories in More Than One City?
Labs USA writes one specification and supplies every site: SEFA 8 casework, epoxy resin surfaces, fume hoods, sinks, fittings, and safety storage.