Scientists have extracted biofuel from algae and built twenty-story-high wind turbines. However, with these “earth-saving” laboratories using 5-10 times more energy than office buildings of equal size, what steps are the scientific community taking to improve their environmental impact?
UCLA is one institution that has taken action. The university recognized that although its labs accounted for only 10% of building space on campus, they used 60% of the campus’s energy. To try and improve this situation, the university created a Laboratory Energy Efficiency Program (LEEP) to encourage conservation. The LEEP website features a number of lab-specific tips, such as keeping fume hoods’ sash heights at 18” when working; however, many of the tips are applicable to any work environment, such as turning off the lights before you leave or using stairs instead of the elevator.
Meanwhile, Concordia University accepted the challenge to maintain its identity as “the most energy efficient university in Quebec.” As part of this initiative, they built the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex, which won an ASHRAE Technology Award in 2005 for its innovative and effective design. To conserve energy, motion detectors not only shut off lights, but regulate ventilation rates when areas of the building are vacant.(*) Meanwhile, the building is heated with a runaround glycol loop (basically a coil of fluid that transfers heat), enabling the system to reincorporate heat from the building’s various internal heat sources (i.e. cold room compressors, growth chambers, freezer rooms, electrical substation, electrical and telecom rooms, computer rooms, etc.).
A project currently under construction is the Genome Science Laboratory Building at University of North Carolina (to be completed in 2011). Here, one of the major “green” design elements is a green roof: the roof includes an all-glass greenhouse for growing laboratory plants while actually improving insulation for the building. Additionally, engineers enhance natural light—in order to cut down on the need for electrical light—by designing pod-shaped fixtures with vertical fins that shade the east and west sides of the building from low-angle sun glare while using horizontal planes to direct daylight deep into the building.
While these labs are taking (literally) groundbreaking measures to improve their energy efficiency, scientists can take small, cumulative steps that will, ultimately, make a difference. After all, if scientists want to help save the planet, they’re already starting in the lab. This is just one more way to start.
Here are a few helpful hints:
Read UCLA’s full list of laboratory energy efficiency tips here.
Learn more about how to make your lab a part of Labs 21.
View the slideshow version of “A Design Guide for Energy-Efficient Research Laboratories” for ways to give your laboratory an energy-intensive overhaul.
* When labs are occupied, the ventilation rate is kept at 10 air changes per hour (ACH). During the day, when the motion detectors do not detect any occupants, the rate falls to 6 ACH. At night—assuming there is still no motion detected—the rate falls to 3 ACH.
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