Challenges Specific to Laboratory Energy Use
Laboratory culture and management practices, inconsistencies in lab regulations and standards, and fume hoods and other energy-intensive technologies used in laboratories present unique challenges when considering the reduction of laboratory energy use.
Management Challenges
The laboratory culture of Universities differs substantially from industry or government. Laboratory operations departments often serve research faculty who are independently funded from external sponsors. This means that University labs are constantly accommodating new equipment, upgrades and procedures. These constant changes make it difficult for environmental health and energy efficiency considerations to be adequately and routinely accommodated. With utilities costs in the overhead, there is no incentive for change. Furthermore, implementing energy savings efforts might reveal non-compliance with current standards and lead to a disruption of research.
Regulatory Challenges
Current regulations and standards governing fume hoods, ventilation, air recirculation, pressurization, exhaust systems, air distribution and diffusion and controls for laboratories are inconsistent, not specific enough for many lab types and confusing. There is not enough regulatory clarity or scientific transparency (justifying the 'why' of regulations) to drive universities (or any lab users) to ensure that an optimal balance is sustained over the life of the lab between human health requirements and energy conservation needs. The consequence of this state of affairs is that laboratories are rarely running at optimal energy and human health performance.
Technological Challenges
While a wide range of resource intensive technologies are installed in a wide variety of laboratories, the collective impact of all campus laboratory fume hoods place them at the top of the list for energy intensive technologies within campus laboratories. In essence, the laboratory fume hood represents the most energy consumptive devise operating within the most energy consumptive building typology within some of the most energy intensive institutions in the world. For more information on fume hoods and the impact of their use, see our site section on Fume Hoods.