Dear Martin, A book, Guidelines for Laboratory Design: Heatlh, Safety, and Environmental Considerations, 4th Ed., Chapter 1, Section 2, has an explanation of a process to set safe and reasonable occupancy standards that make sense for specific research (or teaching) work done in the laboratories for institutions, corporations, and agencies.. Please read that for some guidance for what will be right for Drexel U. In the Guidelines book (Ch 1.2), there is a table of net area per full-time lab occupant (for higher-ed academic institutions) to guide you in your deliberations.