Uncovering energy savings in university laboratories
Reduction of energy usage in laboratory spaces is a highly effective way of tackling operational costs and improving environmental performance, but this requires extremely careful consideration. In this article, Ian Thomas, Product Manager – LabControls at TROX UK, highlights key approaches which reduce energy usage whilst maintaining or enhancing the safety and control of the laboratory environment.
Further and higher education sites across the UK are operating in a challenging financial landscape. Fewer students from overseas are choosing the UK for study, resulting in a loss in revenue of around £1.1 billion. Recent government policy decisions are also expected to have a negative impact on the sector, with Universities UK (the collective voice of 141 universities) estimating a £1.4 billion net reduction in funding to higher education providers in England in 2025–26.
This squeeze on income has coincided with a steep increase in the cost of energy. So it is no surprise that university leadership teams and campus estates managers are prioritising utilities costs as an area in which savings can be made.
For sites incorporating science blocks and laboratories, the problems are particularly severe. This is because the energy consumption of laboratories is often more than three or four times that of offices on a square metre basis. Laboratory buildings can therefore be responsible for between 50% and 80% of the total energy-related (non-residential) carbon emissions of research-intensive universities. Government research facilities, hospitals and private sector laboratories are similarly affected, with energy consumption presenting significant financial and environmental challenges.
Universities and colleges are often wary of tackling energy saving in laboratories due to the nature of the activities carried out in them. Energy consumption can be tackled extremely effectively, however, without compromising health and safety or undermining the integrity of research and teaching.
Room air management systems
Energy consumption in laboratories is often higher due to the amount of conditioned air necessary for fume cupboards. A 900mm wide cupboard with a maximum sash height of 500mm and face velocity of 0.5m/s, for example, would extract approximately 225l/s of conditioned air from the room when the sash is open. This is far higher than for the typical office area or general teaching space.
The optimum solution is to install room air management systems designed specifically for the lab environment (such as the TROX EASYLAB). These enable input and extract air to be controlled automatically to ensure that the required ventilation strategy and levels of safety are maintained. Supply and extraction of the fume cupboards (or other technical air management devices) is automatically balanced and offset in line with changing requirements, reducing the total supply and extract volumes.
For example, if the fume cupboards are open and extracting air, there is not the same requirement for the room system to carry out this process. By scaling down room exhaust air extraction in line with fume cupboard extraction, the room air management system is able to prevent wastage associated with over-supply of conditioned air, improving energy efficiency significantly (see Figures 1 and 2).
Preventing unnecessary energy consumption
If room air management systems are unavailable, you can still tackle fume cupboard energy consumption in other ways. With variable air volume (VAV) operation, the air requirement of the fume cupboard mentioned above would drop from 225l/s to just 55l/s when the sash of the fume cupboard is down, reducing the conditioned air requirement by 170l/s. Ensuring all hardware is capable of VAV operation, and avoiding sashes being left open unnecessarily, are key factors in reducing energy costs.
Teachers and lab managers can encourage energy-efficient practices for students and staff, but there are equipment options too. For example, fume cupboards can be fitted with PIR (passive infrared) sensors capable of identifying when fume cupboards are unattended. After a set time, a visual or audible alarm is triggered to indicate that the sash has been left up. An auto sash closer then works in conjunction with the sensor to close the sash automatically and safely, preventing unnecessary extraction of conditioned air.
In addition, specific control features on fume cupboards are often left unconfigured at the time of installation. It is worth investigating whether additional energy-saving features can be brought into operation on existing hardware. Advanced controls can also be retrofitted to existing lab hardware in many cases, maximising return on capital investment whilst providing new energy efficiency and safety capabilities.
Air change rates, out-of-hours arrangements and zoning
Whilst a typical office requires four air changes per hour, the number is typically set considerably higher for laboratories. A number of universities have obtained energy savings by setting the building management system (BMS) to reduce air change rates at times when laboratories are unoccupied. Local overrides can ensure that, if personnel should be working out of usual work hours, the air changes can be reestablished at times when the BMS has put the building into reduced mode.
It also pays to double-check the settings of different zones across the site, to ensure that the air change rates reflect current activities. Finally, you might also consider equipment such as ventilated downflow tables, canopy hoods or fume exhaust ‘snorkels’ to reduce cooling demand generated by intensive usage of IT equipment on laboratory benches.
