Laboratories consume 10 times as much energy as other types of buildings on campus—from offices and classrooms to dorms. A large amount of this energy is used to warm, cool and move air through fume hoods where researchers run experiments.

For health and safety reasons, labs with fume hoods use 100% outside air (i.e. no air is re-circulated). Vast quantities of electricity are required to run fans that move the air through the building.  This air first has to be either heated by steam or cooled by chillers depending on the time of year.

A single fume hood can use over three times the energy of an entire household. 

What you can do
Laboratory fume hoods are fitted with moveable sashes that provide a safety barrier between the interior of the fume hood and the laboratory. To be safe and save energy, you should only open these sashes (to the safe operating height) when setting up or modifying an experiment.

Unfortunately, however, many sashes are left open all the time.

Depending on the type of fume hood, you have a big opportunity to help save energy by simply shutting the sash. Specifically, Variable Air Volume (VAV) fume hoods are connected to the building’s HVAC system so that when the sash is lowered, the fan’s speed and the volume of air being exhausted are also lowered.

What UBC can do
Since labs use so much energy in comparison to other parts of campus, we’re focusing on behavior change in three buildings with VAV fume hoods: Michael Smith Laboratories, Chemistry Building (D and E Block) and Biological Sciences Building (West and South wings).

Shut the Sash - Completed

Labs in all three buildings are currently participating in our Shut the Sash competition (February 6-March 16, 2012). Researchers are competing in weekly challenges against other teams within the same building. Spot checks on fume hoods will determine the prize winners.

Week 6 Standings 
(Please click the image below.)

After 6 weeks of competition, six labs have been recognized for exemplary fume hood practices. We greatly appreciate the efforts of each and every participating lab. Together, we were able to save an equivalent amount of electricity consumed by 32 homes and the equivalent amount of natural gas used by 52 homes!

We hope you all enjoyed the awards luncheon on the 21st. As a follow-up to that event, weekly prizes for Week 6 and the 1st place prize for Biological Sciences will be distributed the first week of April. Also, be sure to continue shutting the sash, as spot checks (with prizes involved) will be conducted in April. 

Shut the Sash Winners 

Acknowledgements

UBC acknowledges the support of BC Hydro and FortisBC in our campaign to lower energy use in labs. UBC’s Shut the Sash competition was adapted from the University of Toronto Sustainability Office’s campaign guide.

Contact

To find out more about this initiative, please email Anke Sieb. You can read more about fume hood safey in the UBC Laboratory Chemical Safety Reference Manual.