Reducing Laboratory Fume Hood Energy Consumption

By Luke Savage, LEED Green Associate

There is an ever-increasing demand for laboratories to have a reduced impact on the environment, as well as a lower cost to operate. With this continuing push for reduced energy consumption in laboratories, lab planners, architects, engineers, and lab managers are leaving no stone unturned. One of the most powerful tools to reduce energy consumption is the implementation of High Performance Fume Hoods in the laboratory.

Most High Performance Fume Hoods achieve higher energy efficiency by simply requiring a lower face velocity. This makes sense, since the overwhelming majority of the cost to operate a fume hood comes from the cost to temper the laboratory room air that the fume hood simply pumps outside. If the hood has a lower face velocity, and still maintains a safe level of containment, the result is less tempered air leaving the lab, less newly tempered air entering the lab, and consequently a reduced operating cost.