ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN EDUCATION


TACKLING UNIVERSITY LABORATORY ENERGY COSTS


University laboratories consume three to four times the energy used by offices. So how can you cut energy costs without


compromise? Ian Thomas, product manager – LabControls, TROX UK, comments


office area or general teaching space. Tip 1: Use VAV


Fume cupboards involve high energy costs and carbon emissions


U


niversities in England face a £1.4 billion reduction in funding in 2025-26, in addition


to a loss in international student fee income of around £1.1 billion over the past two years (internal UUKi analysis). To address these financial challenges, university leadership teams and campus estates managers are clamping down on overheads – and science blocks in particular can play an important role in cutting costs. The energy consumption of laboratories is often


more than three or four times that of offices on a square metre basis, meaning they can be responsible for between 50% and 80% of the total energy-related (non-residential) carbon emissions of research-intensive universities. So how can you cut energy costs without


compromising health and safety, or undermining the integrity of testing and research?


FOCUS ON FUME CUPBOARDS Fume cupboards involve high energy costs and carbon emissions due to their air supply and extraction requirements. A 900mm wide cupboard with a maximum sash height of 500mm and face velocity of 0.5 m/s, for example, would extract approximately 225 l/s of conditioned air from the room. This is far higher than for the typical


Figure 1


(variable air volume) operation.For the example above, the air requirement would drop from 225 l/s to just 55 l/s when the sash of the fume cupboard is down,


reducing the conditioned air requirement by 170 l/s. Tip 2. Prevent sashes being left open unnecessarily. As well as reminding lab occupants to close sashes when they are busy elsewhere, you can make simple upgrades to existing fume cupboards for automatic closing. PIR (passive infrared) sensors can identify 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, preventing unnecessary extraction of conditioned air. Tip 3. Review existing control capability. Specific control features are often left unconfigured when the fume cupboard is installed. Investigate whether additional energy saving features on existing hardware can be brought into operation. It might also be possible to retrofit advanced control to existing lab hardware, to maximise return on capital investment whilst providing new energy efficiency and safety capabilities. Tip 4. Room air management systems. The


optimum solution is to install room air management systems (such as the TROX EASYLAB) to enable input and extract air to be controlled automatically to ensure that the required ventilation strategy and


Figure 2


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).


REVIEW AIR CHANGE RATES, HOURS OF OPERATION AND ZONING A typical office requires four air changes per hour but, in lab spaces, the number of air changes is typically set considerably higher to err on the side of caution. Consider setting the BMS to reduce air change rates at times when the laboratories are unoccupied. Local overrides can ensure that, if personnel should be working out of usual work hours, the air changes can be re-established 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 suit the activities carried out in each space. Finally, consider equipment such as ventilated down flow tables, canopy hoods or fume exhaust ‘snorkels’ to reduce cooling demand generated by intensive usage of IT equipment on laboratory benches.


TROX T: 01842 754545


www.troxuk.co.uk


www.essmag.co.uk


ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Spring 2026


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