Highlights from LEED™ Registered Laboratories

Susan Reilly, PE, and Stephen Kemp, Enermodal Engineering

Our work on a number of LEED™ registered laboratories throughout North America has allowed us to study generally accepted design practices and to develop more advanced and sustainable approaches. We will discuss the design approaches used in new laboratories in Ottawa, Halifax, Hawaii, Indiana, North Carolina, etc., with an emphasis on energy efficiency. While all of the projects have flow setback control, several innovative features have been used to address local climatic and code considerations (e.g., several energy recovery types, dehumidification systems, dual-sash fume hoods). The end result is that most projects earn 2 to 3 points under the LEED™ Energy Optimization Credit and one project achieved a full 10 LEED™ Energy Credits. Other LEED™ credits sought include additional commissioning, indoor chemical and pollutant source control, thermal comfort, and daylight and views.

Findings:

The first step in design is to minimize the loads. While all these laboratories have flow setback control on ventilation, additional ventilation savings can be achieved by including lab users in the design process. Occupancy sensors have been used to control lights, temperatures and fume hood flow rates. The high ventilation rates in lab buildings present opportunities for alternative approaches to space conditioning that achieve better comfort at lower energy use. Advances in heat recovery chillers have made them worth consideration because of coincident hot water and chilled water loads. Energy recovery is used on all projects, but codes and designer preferences have limited the type and application is some locations. Our approach has been to provide a superior indoor environment for the lab users. Daylighting with exterior and interior light shelves, and diffusing glazings have been incorporated to provide natural light.

Labs21 Connection:

The design teams on these projects have taken an integrated design approach and committed early on to achieving at least a LEED™-certifiable building. The design teams included architects, engineers, energy/LEED™ consultant, building owners, facility managers and lab users. The integrated approach results in designs that achieved up to 70% energy savings compared to standard design practice. The drivers in each design varied with type of lab, climate and code issues. Our primary role was working with the teams to identify and evaluate energy efficiency opportunities and determine their cost effectiveness. We also guided the LEED™ process on some of the projects and provided LEED™ documentation.

Biographies:

Susan Reilly, PE, has over 15 years experience in the building energy field. She is currently working as the energy consultant to laboratory projects in Hawaii, North Carolina, and Indianapolis. Ms. Reilly has also been working with Laboratories for the 21st Century on the energy analysis and benchmarking for laboratories, and recently completed the best practices guides on energy recovery ventilation with Otto Van Geet. Ms. Reilly has a Bachelor and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

Back to the Agenda