Energy Efficient AND Safe HVAC for Labs - US Experience and Lessons

3rd Mar 2009 00:00

Rising costs, new regulations and stakeholder pressures are requiring a marked reduction in the energy and environmental footprint of laboratories, which are extremely energy and water intensive. One reason is tighter health and safety regulation, requiring increased ventilation. But other – avoidable – reasons related to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) include excessively high rates of air change; over-sizing and poor integration of building services; poor control of cooling, heating and lighting; chilling ambient air rather than directly cooling equipment; and absence of efficiency features such as heat recovery.

Best practice experience shows that better performance is possible without compromising - and indeed enhancing – safety, but knowledge of how to do this is not widespread. A UK visit by Geoffrey Bell, a leading US expert on laboratory HVAC, and a prominent member of the Labs21 initiative, provides an opportunity to hear of US thinking and practice in this field, and to compare and contrast it with European experience.

The event is organised by the S-Lab (Safe, Successful, Sustainable Laboratories) initiative of the Higher Education Environmental Performance Improvement project (www.heepi.org.uk), in collaboration with the US Labs21 initiative (www.labs21century.gov). Although targeted at HE, the issues are similar to all laboratories and attendance by practitioners in pharmaceuticals, health, engineering and other companies operating laboratories is warmly encouraged. Facilities staff, lab managers, and other clients for laboratory design, as well as suppliers such as architects, M&E engineers, and project managers, should find it of interest.

NB This event is a specialised one on HVAC, compared to the full day Manchester event on 2nd March, where Geoffrey’s presentation will also cover non-HVAC issues.