WHAT IS A SUSTAINABLE LABORATORY Lessons from HEEPIs Benchmarking and Workshops

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WHAT IS A SUSTAINABLE LABORATORY? Lessons from
HEEPIs Benchmarking and Workshops

• Professor Peter James, Co-Director
• Higher Education Environmental Performance
  Improvement ( HEEPI)
• www.heepi.org.uk www.labs21.org.uk

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GROWING PRESSURES

• High utilities costs
• Tightening regulation- Command and control
  e.g. Building Regs- Incentive based e.g. Waste
  levy
• Stretching government targets- 80 carbon
  reduction 1990-2050- zero carbon buildings
  (Welsh labs by 2012)
• Stakeholder pressures- UK university carbon
  reduction target- Green League Table of
  universities

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LAB SPECIFIC PRESSURES

• Energy certification- Display Energy
  Certificates- Energy Performance Certificates
• Carbon Reduction Commitment- Carbon standard
• Auditing, e.g. HVAC
• EN 14175 fume cupboard standard

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THE HEEPI PROJECT

• Bottom up, estates focused
• Funded by HEFCE
• Steered by key sectoral organisations
• Green Gown Awards
• High Performance Buildings Guide
• Building Benchmarking
• Labs21 partnership

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A SUSTAINABLE LAB

• Sustainable building- location materials etc.
• Energy efficient- fabric HVAC process cooling
• Space efficient
• Low waste
• Healthy and safe
• Productive and effective

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SYNERGIES

• Health and safety- better understanding can
  create greater safety and reduce capital and
  operating costs
• Working conditions- high daylighting,
  sustainable materials, maximum natural
  ventilation etc create more attractive and
  productive environments
• Flexibility- reuse of equipment and space cuts
  waste and avoids the impacts of replacements
• Learning- laboratories create tomorrows
  scientists and technologists, who must understand
  sustainability

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BENCHMARKS (kwh per meter squared) (1 m2 10.76
ft²)
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LAB PERFORMANCE- 2006 prices, hypothetical 7000m2
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WHY SO HIGH?

• Hazardous practices/substances requiring high
  ventilation
• Sensitivity of equipment and processes, requiring
  considerable cooling
• High heat outputs from equipment, lighting etc,
  also requiring cooling
• Extended occupancy

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UNECESSARILY HIGH?

• Lack of understanding about key issues amongst
  designers and contractors
• Lack of integration and optimisation of building
  services
• Multiplication of safety margins
• Absence of effective whole-life costing
• Lack of involvement of facilities staff and
  building users in design
• Wrong assumptions acceptance of nameplate
  data limited use profiling

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THE GREENBUILD PROJECT

• Financed by 4 UK HE funding bodies, AUDE and
  Carbon Trust
• 1) BREEAM for HE
• 2) Sustainable laboratories- design-
  management/operation- user awareness
• Seeking core group of- partner universities-
  technical experts