5 Top Tips to Improve Your Lab’s Energy Efficiency

With a few simple steps you can greatly reduce the amount of energy your lab uses.

1. Switch Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems

Fume cupboards where Constant Air Volume (CAV) systems are used place a high burden on the HVAC system, as opposed to more energy efficient Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems.

VAV systems can reduce energy consumption by up to 70% in some cases. VAV systems can be supplied as a new unit, or retrofitted to existing units.

2. Close VAV fume cupboards when not in use

Closing your fume cupboards is one of the most impactful things you can do to save energy in the laboratory. Constant air volume (CAV) fume cabinets use the same amount of energy whether they’re open or closed, but Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems waste far less energy when they are closed.

3. Turn off equipment when not in use

There is a lot of variability on how much energy your lab equipment consumes. Equipment that has big fan components tend to be the highest energy consumers in the lab. Turning this equipment off when it’s not in use (assuminig its constant power is not critical to lab safety) or on nights and weekends, can have a big impact on energy usage.

4. Properly maintain equipment

Ensuring your lab equipment is maintained is not only critical for health and safety, but it can also ensure your equipment continues to work efficiently too.

5. Turn off the lights when the last person leaves the lab

Of course, this is a general tip which you should adopt whenever you are leaving a room that is no longer in use.

Bright lighting is essential to effective working in a lab, but in this environment lighting makes up around 15% of all lab energy use. Even if your lab is fitted with modern and energy efficient LED lighting, simply turning off the lights when you leave the lab or support rooms can have a significant impact.