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Key Objective: 8. Fume Hoods Education

Educate groups and individuals on correct operation of fume hoods and the importance of shutting the sash when not in use.

Educate users on proper operation of fume hoods, with the Shut the Sash program.

Associated Metric

No metric specified for this objective

Explanation

"Fume Hoods: The campus is estimated to have between 1,700 and 1,800 fume hoods in operation at the present time. The majority of these are constant air volume (CAV) hoods without heat recovery that operate continuously. Several hundred variable air volume (VAV) hoods also exist, which are in operation only when the hood sash is raised. These hoods, however, are often operated continuously. Based on a Trane TRACE energy model for a typical fume hood on campus, the cost of conditioning air to replace the air vented by a CAV fume hood over the course of a year is estimated to be approximately $5,500 per year. The energy model also predicts an energy usage for VAV hoods, CAV hoods using heat recovery, and VAV hoods using heat recovery to cost about $2,100, $3,200, and $1,500, respectively. Fewer than 200 of the campus’ 1,700 fume hoods are VAV. These figures provide an opportunity to significantly reduce fume hood energy consumption. If the campus takes into account some portion of fume hoods that utilize VAV or heat recovery, the University can conservatively assume the average cost of hood operation to be $3,750 per year. Using this average cost, the total energy cost that can be attributed to campus fume hoods is roughly 9 percent of the campus total. The University believes the physical number of fume hoods in operation can be reduced by 20 percent to 25 percent. This is based on the fact that many rooms have multiple hoods that do not require simultaneous use, and that many of these fume hoods are currently used for chemical storage and cannot be removed. The remaining fume hoods should all be converted to VAV systems with heat recovery—these can reduce a CAV hood's energy consumption by 70 percent. This strategy will also require an educational component. Groups and individuals will need to be educated on operating hoods correctly and to shut the hood sashes when not in use. The above actions can reduce campus energy consumption by at least 2 percent. Our new target for fume hoods is 2 percent."

Theme

Project History

  • 12/7/2016

    At the ECBS SWATeam meeting the report from student capstone project on attitudes toward fume hood energy conservation was discussed. There is a need to sign up the labs for the Freezer Challenge project before January 15, 2017.

  • 9/29/2016

    Representatives from iSEE, the ECBS SWATeam, F&S, and student interns met to discuss coordination of energy conservation efforts regarding the fume hoods on campus.  iSEE and the student interns is investigating the development of a Certified