BSEE


In recent years, the environmental performance of universies has come under increasing scruny from government, management teams, and students themselves, and sustainability success or failure is reported worldwide. Ian Thomas, Product Manager – LABCONTROL, at TROX UK explain


sustainability, right down to a fail, providing transparency for environmentally- conscious students.


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For many universities, however, high energy usage is an unavoidable necessity if they are to retain their international reputations for teaching and research. This is particularly true for institutions with science campuses. The energy consumption of university laboratories is often more than three or four times that of ordinary teaching spaces on a square metre basis. This can mean that laboratory buildings are responsible for between 50% and 80% of the total energy-related (non- residential) carbon emissions of research-intensive universities. And there are other priorities in addition to energy efficiency. The health and safety of staff and students is paramount and, today’s laboratory spaces need to be more flexible than in the past. To prevent expensive under-occupation, the STEM facilities have to facilitate multi-disciplinary teaching and research, making it possible for a variety of scientific specialisms to work effectively side-by-side. So how do you address these air management challenges of the modern lab?


Achieving major gains


Integrating laboratory good housekeeping into the syllabus for all science undergraduates is a sensible measure for every university. There are also, however, effective design approaches that


eople & Planet’s University League table, now in its tenth year, creates an alternative merit roster for higher education sites, rating them from ‘first class’ for their


FOCUS: EDUCATIONAL SERVICES


Driving energyefficiency in the university science campus


can be adopted by the campus estates team to drive down energy consumption.


The higher energy costs and carbon emissions of the science campus are typically associated with the need for specialist air supply and extraction to ensure that laboratory operations can be carried out safely. Chief among these is the usage of conditioned air for fume cupboards. When sashes of fume cupboards are open, the volumes of air required to maintain a safe working environment for laboratory personnel increase significantly. For example, a 900mm wide cupboard with a maximum sash height of 500mm and face velocity of 0.5 m/s would extract approximately 225 l/s of conditioned air from the room. This would be fixed on a constant volume cupboard, whereas on a variable volume cupboard the minimum air volume could be around 55 l/s when the sash is down. Converting from constant volume to variable volume would therefore save 170 l/s when the sash is in the down position for a single cupboard, so the ability to adapt to demand is a necessity. Simply installing variable volume cupboards may not be sufficient to achieve today’s ambitious sustainability targets however. An effective option is to integrate fume cupboard air supply and extraction with the wider air management systems to prevent wastage. Installing a room air management system (such as the TROX EASYLAB system) makes it possible for all input and extract air for the laboratory to be controlled automatically to ensure that the required ventilation strategy and levels of safety are maintained. With this design approach, the 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 over-supply and extraction of conditioned air from the space, improving energy efficiency significantly.


Saving energy at the University of Wolverhampton


In the new Rosalind Franklin Science Building at the University of Wolverhampton, a TROX EASYLAB room air management system has been installed to manage the supply and extract


34 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER APRIL 2020


controllers for over 50 fume cupboards. Responding rapidly to changes in extract volumes by the technical extraction devices, the room air management system offsets one form of exhaust air against another. This maintains the correct air flow balance and room pressure at all times in the laboratories, whilst generating energy savings by preventing over-supply and extraction of conditioned air. Auto-close mechanisms fitted to fume cupboards ensure that sashes close automatically, if left open unnecessarily, and integration with the university’s BMS means that air change rates can be reduced, without impacting safety, at times such as weekends and evenings, when the laboratories are unoccupied.


Effective collaboration at the University of Birmingham


At the University of Birmingham’s new Collaborative Teaching Laboratory (CTL) the installation of advanced air management technology is providing the flexibility necessary to maximise occupancy levels. In one area of the CTL, for example, the TROX air management system, integrated with the site’s BMS, optimises energy efficiency of 50 fume cupboards. It divides the lab into 5 zones, each with 10 fume cupboards, fitted with TROX EASYLAB TVLK-type fume cupboard controllers. Sash distance sensors control the volume flow rates based on the height of the sashes, and TROX BE-SEG-02 user displays, with traffic light warning systems and audible alarms, contribute to safe working procedures. Each zone features two supply air VAV units which track the extract air, ensuring the maintenance of correct leakage flows. By matching the supply of air to the changing requirements of the space these features reduce over-supply and wastage of conditioned air, ensuring that multiple scientific disciplines can carry out teaching and research safely side-by-side, whilst achieving the optimum level of environmental and financial performance. The resulting levels of efficiency have contributed to the building’s ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating. If you would like to discuss ways of improving the environmental performance of university science campuses, contact TROX on tel: 01842 754545 or email: sales@troxuk.co.uk.


Peter James and Lisa Hopkinson, ‘Carbon, Energy and Environmental Issues Affecting Laboratories in Higher Education - A Supplement to the HEEPI Report on General Regulations and Schemes on the Topic’, August 2011.


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