Green Laboratories
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Definition
What is a green lab and what are
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Benefits
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Increased productivity
Focus on health/safety concerns
Reduced environmental impacts
Reduction of regulatory burdens
Reduction in operational costs
Long term ROI/TCO
Opportunities in Laboratory Design
Where are the opportunities to “green”
laboratories?
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Integrated design
Optimizing building systems
Use of environmentally preferable products
purchasing
Use of LEED and Labs21 EPC
Social benefits
Challenges
What are the challenges to greening a lab?
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Higher initial fees for integrated design (ID)—ID has
proven to substantially reduce first cost of the building
project. As a result, many LEED buildings have cheaper
first cost than conventional buildings.
Perceived higher costs and efforts are cited as the
overwhelming green specification barrier
Finding financing and incentive opportunities
Resource availability and construction schedules
Marketing opportunities and returns – does the
customer want to assume the additional costs in order
to be publicly recognized as a “Green Lab”
“What is the Value”? Real or perceived?
Resistance to change “typical” or “proven” solutions
because the consequences of failure are high.
Example: Site
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
Hyderabad, India
Greening a Laboratory - Site
Site Issues
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Facility has to be designed to be ideally suited
for lab building type
Conversion of existing facility to some other use
if required
Neighborhood acceptance/social issues
Transportation access and parking availability
Brownfield development
Chemical delivery and storage system – JIT
deliver and warehousing by suppliers. Switch
central chemical storage to off-site location.
Air effluent dispersion and filtering
Water effluent dispersions and filtering
Security
Example: Water
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories,
Hyderabad, India treats
all process water on site
Greening a Laboratory - Water
Water Issues
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Laboratory equipment water
Process water efficiencies
Purity levels required in labs
Additional filtering and polishing cost for RO DiH2O
Exact procedures and protocol
Vacuum systems (pumps) in lieu of water aspirators
Neutralization tanks and storage requirements
Flow resistors and monitoring
Rain water collections and alternate usage
Example: Energy
Greening a Laboratory - Energy
Energy Issues
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Right size lab equipment loads – heat and plug loads
CFD modeling
100% outside air
Increased air change and negative pressure
requirements
Non-operable windows in labs
Unique lab specific equipment – Fume hoods, BSC,
cold rooms, environmental rooms, laminar flow
cabinets, vacuum systems, HPLC’s and GC
(instrumentation), refrigerators and freezers, etc.
Energy issues continued…
 Energy Star lab equipment
 Unique commissioning requirements
 Unique solutions – high efficiency fume hoods,
Sash management plan, VAV systems, lighting
controls, heat recovery, evaporative cooling, night
setbacks, zones of control, metering controls for
mechanical and lighting equipment, alternative
exhausting devices, etc.
 Proximity sensors for monitoring and control
 Green-e Power (www.green-e.org);
renewable energy
Example: Materials and Resources
Greening a Laboratory - Materials
Materials and Resources Issues
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Resource availability and construction schedules
Design for flexibility and modularity
Building reuse
Design in interstitial space or accessible ceiling plenum
Resource reuse issues
Rapidly renewable material selections
FSC C-O-C wood
Methods for evaluating environmental performance of
alternative materials
Verification of performance requirements
Materials & Resources continued…
 Recycled contents
 VOC and low emitting materials, paints, adhesives,
sealants, etc.
 Low emitting furniture, fixtures and furnishings
 Waste management and recycling plan
 Chemical resource management plan/JIT deliveries
 Lab specific materials – epoxyn resin, epoxyn
floors, polypropylene, phenolic resins, ceramics,
unique floor etc.
 Local and regional materials - locally extracted and
manufactured
Example: IEQ
Greening a Laboratory--IEQ
Indoor Environmental Quality Issues specific
to laboratory design
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Ventilation Effectiveness
Exterior door notification
Controllability of systems
Indoor Environmental Safety
 Airflow modeling
 Fume hood commissioning
 Alarm systems
Additional IEQ issues…
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Fume hood alarms and room pressure controls
Non-operable windows in labs without alarms
100 % outside air
Optimize indoor airflow based on CFD and/or
physical modeling
Conduct fume hood testing based on ASHRAE 110
Incorporate hazard – specific air quality monitoring
Design for air change rate and high purging
exhaust using panic switch
Chemical storage venting and storage
Constructing management plan – pre and post
Commissioning
Innovation and Design Process
Lessons Learned
Standards for Labs
What standards support efficient and safe
operation of laboratories?
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Building codes
Professional society standards--ASHRAE, SMACNA, etc.
EPA Labs21 Environmental Performance Criteria (EPC)
LEED Application Guide for Labs
Materials standards—FSC, MTS, Green Guard, Earth
Square, Green Seal, etc.
SEFA standards specific for lab equipment, air flow
products, service fixtures, work surfaces, furniture
Other regulations established by CDC, NIH, FDA,
USDA,NSF, JCAHCO, Blood bank, Infection control, etc.
Unique code requirements – NFPA, NSF, etc.
EPC and
LEED Application Guide for Labs
Using U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED 2.0,
EPA/DOE Laboratories for the 21st Century initiative
developed the Environmental Performance Criteria
(EPC) for laboratories.
Building on lessons learned in EPC, USGBC volunteers
are developing a LEED-New Construction Application
Guide for Laboratories, commonly known as
“LEED for Labs.”
Results
Ultimately, what does greening a lab do?
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Benefits the environment, people, planet
Influences safety and health
Positively effects grants and endowments
Increases productivity, recruitment and retention
Supports product manufacturing process and
material sourcing
Recognizes tenant perspective
Demonstrates good stewardship and public policy
Earns LEED credits
Aligns facilities for Science with the humanistic spirit of
Science
Conclusions…
Assuage concerns
about compromised
performance
Challenge
established
assumptions
Just do it!
Resources
EPA/DOE Laboratories for the 21st Century—
www.labs21century.gov/pdf/epc_printable_508.pdf
SEFA (Scientific Equipment and Facilities
Association)– www.sefalabs.com
U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Labs –
www.usgbc.com
ASHRAE (American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, & Air-conditioning Engineers) –
www.ashrae.com
Others…
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