Dedicated to advancing sustainable laboratories globally.
C1 Decarbonization | Designing for Decarbonization
Integrated Approach for High-Performance Sustainable Laboratory Design
Laboratories are prodigious consumers of energy, use a lot of water, and generate excessive waste. Lab buildings can consume 5 to 10 times more energy than office buildings. Ventilation (HVAC) design plays a critical role. In addition, due to complex risk and safety requirements, there can be various challenges to meet adequate indoor air quality (IAQ) goals. Optimized cooling and heating strategies, energy recovery, intelligent building management systems, and lab controls are some of the many other building systems that can have substantial impact for high-performance sustainable lab design. This presentation will provide a holistic view of high-performance decarbonization strategies for laboratory infrastructure based on a life cycle assessment approach. The presentation will include technical examples on energy efficiency/LCCA, embodied carbon, climate risk, resiliency, and enhanced IAQ without compromising on safety.
Understanding the Scale and Impacts of Energy Efficiency Strategies on Laboratory Decarbonization
Most design guides or recommendations for energy efficiency and decarbonization efforts in buildings typically address the scale and impacts of strategies either in generic terms or as part of a specific project case study. Laboratory buildings offer unique challenges and opportunities in finding appropriate design strategies because of the complexity and energy intensity of engineering systems as well as the varied occupancy and operational needs. In addition, the operational goals of a lab building typically involve concepts and materials that can significantly impact carbon use beyond building operations and maintenance components. It can be challenging to develop a realistic sense of the energy and carbon intensity of a specific building during the conceptual and design phases before many details have been defined. This presentation will summarize for multiple project types and climate locations. How the differences in projects ultimately impact both the energy and carbon use in the building and how some differences in construction implementation and building operation can distort or even improve upon original design assumptions. Based upon this presentation, owners and designers will be better prepared to characterize and understand the relative impact of design strategies on energy use and carbon use for their building and location.
The Hidden Carbon Impact: Uncovering MEP's role in Embodied Carbon
In the quest for sustainable building design, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems—critical components in data centers, semiconductor plants, and lab-manufacturing facilities—have long been overlooked in whole-building life cycle assessments (WBLCA). While efforts to assess embodied carbon in structures and enclosures have gained traction, MEP components remain a blind spot due to their complexity and lack of available data. To bridge this gap, a BIM Manager, an environmental specialist, and a sustainability expert worked together to develop a comprehensive methodology for assessing MEP's embodied carbon. This presentation delves into our innovative approach to MEP life cycle assessments. We'll explore strategies for overcoming data limitations, utilizing proxy methods for missing manufacturer information, and leveraging industry tools to refine impact estimates. Our discussion will showcase how advanced analytics can transform disparate data into actionable insights, empowering project teams to make informed decisions for carbon reduction. Beyond methodology, we'll discuss how this approach can drive collaboration among designers, engineers, and procurement teams to demand better data, influence material selection, and promote environmental product declarations (EPDs). As the industry moves towards stricter regulations and net-zero goals, integrating MEP systems into the embodied carbon conversation is crucial for the decarbonization of high-tech and industrial facilities.
C2 Sustainable Science | Better Chemistry for Conservation
Green Lab Initiatives for Water Reduction
Get an inside look at how Gilead Sciences, Inc., has implemented their green labs program with a focus on initiatives. Learn how the green labs program enables sustainability champions to test sustainable technology. Get introduced to the program setup, including designing an effective-implementation team, how to engage and leverage sponsorship from leadership, and how to target and implement high impact initiatives. Gilead's green lab program manager and process chemistry research scientist will share the green labs program structure and dive into impactful water reduction campaigns. Water conservation in chemistry laboratories is becoming increasingly crucial due to growing environmental concerns and the rising costs of water resources. This pilot explores two innovative approaches to reducing water consumption in laboratory settings: waterless condensers and in-house water recirculation systems. Waterless condensers, the Findensers in this case rely on advanced materials and efficient heat exchange mechanisms to significantly reduce or eliminate the need for external water sources during distillation and cooling processes. In addition, the implementation of in-house water recirculation systems allows for the reuse of cooling water, minimizing waste, and reduction of overall water consumption. Join the green lab champion as they discuss the design, benefits, and practical implementation of these systems, highlighting their efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Mission-Critical Gas Management at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
SF6, or sulfur hexafluoride, and helium are essential to Los Alamos National Laboratory's research mission. However, to embed sustainability in lab operations, it has become critical to manage these inputs in an efficient way. Hence, the laboratory's Pollution Prevention and Sustainability Programs partnered in FY 2021 to meet this challenge. The first effort focused on a SF6 reduction study, which identified and funded gas reduction opportunities in FY 2022. At that time, progress could not be determined based on the infancy of the initiative. Fast forward years later, and data-driven progress is clear; the number of gas cylinders purchased by a significant user decreased from 20 cylinders in FY 2023 to a net of zero cylinders purchased in FY 2024. Laboratory staff will discuss the relationship building approach taken with this group to achieve such a breakthrough. The second effort, beginning in FY 2024, focused on a helium user characterization study. Project members will discuss helium's integration in lab operations; topics include uses of helium, helium economics, and the nexus between gas and liquid helium. Furthermore, past, current and future recovery efforts will be presented; the focus being on liquid helium. Program staff members expect this initiative to result in data-driven progress similar to the SF6 effort.
C3 Sustainable Design | Case Studies in Modeling
Performance in the Palmetto State: Bringing Sustainability to Advanced Materials Research
High performance for new academic facilities can be achieved even when the facility includes heavy chemistry research in the deep south. The Advanced Materials Innovation Complex (AMIC) at Clemson University exemplifies a state-of-the-art, high-performance facility designed to foster interdisciplinary materials research. The new 140,000 square foot building will include adaptable laboratory space and over 150 fume hoods. By collaborating closely with lab research staff and adhering to University Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) guidelines, the design team successfully optimized the modeled energy performance of the AMIC building. This was accomplished through strategic architectural decisions, robust engineering energy conservation measures, and strong commitment from both the design and commissioning teams. This presentation will detail the strategies employed to achieve an anticipated 30 percent energy cost savings over its baseline building comparison.
Sustainable Design Strategies for Mizzou's Center for Energy Innovation
The University of Missouri is developing the Center for Energy Innovation, a research facility dedicated to advancing sustainability, resilience, and energy performance. Aligned with this mission, the team was tasked with designing a building that achieves exceptional energy efficiency, minimizes its carbon footprint, and maintains the flexibility and reliability necessary to support research activities. Meeting the ambitious sustainability goals presented challenges, due to the facility's high power demands and dense fume hood requirements. This presentation reviews strategies to balance energy performance with the operational needs of a modern research lab. To support the University's minimum LEED Gold target—while evaluating pathways to LEED Platinum certification—our team conducted extensive modeling and analysis of multiple sustainable design options. These included exhaust air energy recovery, active air quality monitoring and control, high-performance fume hoods, VAV lab exhaust sensing and control, active chilled/hot beams, low-friction loss air system design, solar PV power generation, daylighting and controls, high-performance glazing, external shading fins, and a peak-load shaving geo-exchange system.Through a review of these strategies, attendees will gain insight into the complexities of sustainable lab design and how thoughtful engineering can drive efficiency, adaptability, and resilience in energy-intensive research environments.
Cold-Climate Innovation: Sustainable Design at the University at Buffalo
The University at Buffalo's new Agrusa Hall for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences features prototyping, fabrication facilities, collaboration spaces, offices, and labs, aligning with the university's award-winning climate action plan and New York State University Construction Fund sustainability directives. Labs consume more energy per square foot than office buildings, a challenge that is amplified in cold climates with significant heating demands. In this session, speakers will delve into sustainable design and the strategies employed, including: early-stage analysis parametric energy modeling optimized building massing, envelope, and orientationl solar exposure, wind, and shading evaluated to inform design decisions; envelope configuration/facade that minimized thermal losses through iterative window-to-wall ratio tuning; orientation-specific shading that enhanced passive solar heat gains in winter while limiting summer overheating; an HVAC multi-objective, iterative optimization process; performance criteria for energy use, thermal comfort, and reliability; and evaluation of high-efficiency heat recovery, water vs air, advanced air handling schemes, including using the campus chilled water to generate heating in the winter. The design team leveraged energy modeling and innovative HVAC concepts to achieve a mechanically robust design, tuned to complement the building's passive strategies to achieve energy savings under extreme conditions.
C4 System Optimization | Fume Hood Operational Improvements
Scalable, Data-Driven, and Accessible: I2SL's New Fume Hood Challenge
In 2024, the University Alliance Group organized a pilot of the first I2SL Shut the Sash competition engaging and educating research organizations and their scientists. Building on the pilot's success, I2SL is developing a broader, more inclusive and international Fume Hood Challenge; this effort will go beyond shutting fume hood sashes to include promoting user behaviors, technologies, and strategies that monitor and enhance fume hood performance. The Fume Hood Challenge will encourage a variety of actions and strategies to improve both the energy efficiency and safety of fume hoods and the building systems that support them. I2SL plans to launch the challenge sometime after the annual conference and will share details of this initiative. Attendees will gain a behind-the-scenes look at the Challenge structure, including scoring criteria developed with input from industry experts. Key focus areas will include improving fume hood energy efficiency, enhancing user safety, providing educational resources, and maintaining operational integrity of building air systems. Finally, best practice guides will provide step-by-step strategies for optimizing airflow, retrofitting legacy systems, and training staff on good fume hood operational practices. This session will highlight the tangible benefits of joining the Challenge and offer practical tips for success.
HVAC Validation of Fume Hood Challenge Successes
The future I2SL Fume Hood Challenge will serve as an important resource for promoting safety and professional responsibility, even in constant volume buildings. In variable volume buildings, testing mechanical performance can confirm energy savings and assess HVAC system health. Issues such as degraded control valves, static pressure leakage, faulty flow and pressure sensors, or improper settings and sequences can reduce an air handler or exhaust fan's responsiveness to sash positions, undermining energy efficiency goals. We propose a simple, crowd-sourced fume hood and HVAC test to provide a coarse but effective validation of supply and exhaust system responsiveness. By collaborating with the facilities controls team, Fume Hood Challenge coordinators will be able to add system credibility with savings data to behavioral change initiatives. This integration reinforces claims of cost, energy, and carbon savings, promotes system maintenance or recommissioning when performance issues arise, and fosters support for green labs programs.
Can You Reduce Fume Hood Exhaust and Still Be Safe?
Laboratory fume hoods are ventilated enclosures that capture and remove gases, vapors and fumes from the work area. They are used to protect laboratory staff. They also consume a great deal of energy. This paper will focus on proven ways to upgrade conventional hoods to high performance hoods. We will look at how an optimized fume hood operates as a part of the overall HVAC system. Upgrading fume hoods improves performance, saves money and frees up HVAC capacity. We will also look at new ways to verify performance and safety, by understanding just how low fume hood exhaust can go and still be safe.
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