Universities across the country are anxious for the completion of a new building on campus intended for treating hazardous materials at Iowa State.

The new building, located on Wanda Daley Drive behind the Administrative Services Building, creates a safer, more modern building to effectively store and treat hazardous materials handled on campus.

Because of its efficient and modern design, other research universities are calling to see when they can visit the waste facility, said Bill Diesslin, environmental programs manager and assistant director of the environmental health and safety department.

The department occupies space in four buildings: the Agronomy Laboratory, the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory, the Chemical Waste Handling Facility and the Fire Service Institute.

The new building will bring all of the environmental health and safety department personnel under the same roof, improving management efficiency.

Ken Kerns, associate director of the environmental health and safety department, said the cost to bring the old plant up to code was too much, so the department made the decision to construct a new building.

Construction is expected to be completed in May, one year after it began, and the department is planning to move in July. Kerns said he expects the buildings occupied by the environmental health and safety department to become academic departments.

The department is responsible for the oversight and technical consultation on all environmental, occupational health and safety issues, according to the environmental health and safety Web site. Its goal is ensuring a safe and healthy environment for employees, students and visitors.

The architects went to great lengths to design a building that would provide a safe surrounding to handle the waste chemicals, Diesslin said.

“Security was a huge factor,” he said, about the design and layout of the building. He said there are very few openings to the outside, minimizing penetration points.

Diesslin said the idea was to design a building that would be able to encounter the worst possible scenario, while at the same time minimizing the chance that scenario could happen.