Share thisIn the last column, I continued the discussion of sustainable design and containment with a focus on how different approaches to airflow can impact energy usage in laboratory facilities. I will continue the discussion reviewing other energy saving design ideas and approaches.
In addition to the energy used by heating, cooling, reheating, humidification, and de-humidification of outside air brought into a laboratory facility that uses airflow to reduce hazards and to improve the indoor environment, there are other energy uses where innovative design can reduce energy use.
Reducing the airflow to the minimum required for safe and effective operations is the first step in reducing the energy usage of laboratories. Recognizing that laboratories and animal facilities also can operate dynamically is an important component of that first step. Considering the dynamics and designing systems to reduce energy use in response to the dynamics is a way that many facilities have successfully implemented energy use reductions. There are a number of ways to respond.
To take advantage of the fact that laboratories are seldom occupied more than half of a day, consider occupied and unoccupied settings on the systems. When the labs are unoccupied, overrides can be provided to allow normal system operation to take place when necessary. For laboratories where directional airflow is an issue, careful design analysis is required to ensure the directional airflow is maintained in both occupied and unoccupied modes. If airflow can be reduced by 500uring one half of the available hours, energy use would be reduced by 25%.
Animal rooms also can be considered. An animal room might be designed with the capability of using either ventilated rack systems or open racks in the rooms. Ventilated rack systems often require less overall air quantity than is normally delivered to rooms with open racks. Consider systems that would reduce airflow to the room when ventilated racks are used.