HVAC For Laboratories Key Design Parameters - Kewaunee

The risk of exposure of hazardous chemicals in labs ranges from negligible to severe. For this reason, there must be an adequate level of protection that is provided through different ventilation systems, exhaust systems, or exposure control devices, such as fume hoods.

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Therefore, the key purposes of designing lab exhaust & ventilation are:

• Removal of odors and contaminants.
• Higher air flows to assist cooling.
• Prevent overexposure to hazardous chemicals.
• Satisfy humidity and temperature requirements.

The essential elements of the different levels of lab ventilation designs are to give protected and breathable conditions for all lab personnel, and to limit openings to dangerous air impurities. Careful designing, planning, and keeping up air supply/ exhaust ventilation designs can achieve these objectives.

• All labs will be isolated from outside regions i.e., there will be no return of lab exhaust or fume hood back into the center.
• Labs exhaust frameworks ought to be planned with an abundance limit (say 25%) for spikes and future extension.
• Electrical appliances, such as freezers, hatchery, autoclave, regularly exhaust heat into a room. Contemplate the impact of a warm place during the lab planning phase.
• The air balance of the room shall be maintained by closing the windows. Hence climate control should be provided.
• Local exhaust ventilation other than fume hoods such as snorkels shall be provided in labs to maximize control effectiveness or exposure to hazardous chemicals.
• In design exhaust system of labs, airflow can be measured by anemometer – a device that measure the air speed. As measuring air speed is important, to predict the weather change.
• Laboratory exhaust fans will be spark proof and must be on the highest-level roof of the building as it will minimize the risk of interaction between the personnel and exhaust air. And hoods will be labelled to show the fan or ventilation system to which they are associated.
• Air exhausted from laboratory will not go un-ducted through different regions.
• Ventilation supply or exhaust conversion can make the entryways hard to open. Consider programming in a brief pause into the alarm framework.

Designing your laboratory airflow right will lower energy consumption and improve the air quality and safety of your lab. Finally, whether you are constructing a new plan or renovating an existing one, talk to one of our experts to plan the lab ventilation. We use our decades of expertise & advanced technologies, such as Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), to help get your lab design right.

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What Makes Laboratory Spaces Different?

Lab buildings are the biggest energy users on the UC Davis campus. These buildings not only have safety precautions like hoods and eye wash stations, but complex ventilation and mechanical systems. This is mainly driven by the high ventilation requirements of lab spaces, where hazardous activities require bringing in outside air 24/7. In a typical non-lab room on campus, the number of air changes per hour is typically 4, or less for offices, and but in laboratories it's 6 air changes per hour.

The HVAC systems serving laboratory spaces, specifically wet labs, are different from those serving other types of spaces on campus.  The system serving a lab space supplies 100% outside air, meaning no air exhausted from a lab space is recirculated back into the system - it is all exhausted outside the building. Follow the arrows below to see the path that air takes through wet-lab buildings. 

Improved Comfort If Your Lab is No Longer a Lab

Departments' needs for space evolve over time. Spaces that were originally designed to be used as labs are sometimes repurposed for non-hazardous activities such as office space, break room, etc. In those repurposed spaces, ventilation rates may be reduced to save energy and improve occupant comfort.

What does it mean to operate in ECO Mode? Repurposed lab spaces that operate in ECO Mode have:

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• Lower ventilation rates
• Explicit signage indicating no hazardous materials or activities are allowed in the space
• Fume hoods hibernated