Sustainability of Laboratories—A Historic Approach
Burkhard Winter, DIN
What are the features that make a laboratory sustainable? Have the laboratories that were built and operated in the last decades been "unsustainable?" This presentation seeks answers to these questions evaluating ancient laboratories starting with the laboratory of the German chemist (pharmacist) Johann Rudolph Glauber, 1604–1670. The development of laboratory inventory and increasing awareness of occupational health and safety aspects for more than four centuries is shown by laboratories of Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier (about 1792), Justus von Liebig (about 1850), John Kjeldahl (protein nitrogene determination about 1890), and Hans Fischer (German Nobel laureate 1930) among others. Pictures demonstrate the systematic development of safer laboratory practice by installation of more and more sophisticated exhaust air devices to the point of the present day's fume cupboards and HVACs.
Where do we stand today and how do we decrease the necessary use of energy for unavoidable exhaust air devices in the laboratory? Air exchange rates of laboratories, based, for example, on ASHRAE and DIN standards or on practical habit in other countries, are compared and will show major differences. Derived from this unsatisfying current state, an attempt is made to specify a minimum air exchange rate based on occupational health and safety needs of the individual laboratory, resulting very often in considerably lower air exchange rates than those used at the time being. This approach to reduce the carbon footprint of laboratories without compromising safety was established in 2009 when revising the appropriate German standard DIN 1946-7.
Another question often raised in the context of reduced energy and air use in laboratories is the minimum air flow in VAV fume cupboards needed to avoid the accumulation of explosive atmosphere in the fume cupboard's workspace in case of a spillage. Background for this question is the self-acting reduction of air flow through the VAV fume cupboard when the front sash is in a lower or closed position. This presentation will report out about more than 10 years of experience with an accumulation test according to the former German standard DIN 12924-1 and will present the newest unpublished results of calculations using the lower explosion limits of typically flammable liquids such as acetone, n-hexane, and diethylether.
Biography:
Burkhard Winter is a chemist working for DECHEMA, the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and the German Standards Institute (DIN). He acts as secretary for the standardization of laboratory equipment on the international level in ISO/TC 48, on the European level in CEN/TC 332, and on the national German level in DIN Technical Committee, "Laboratory apparatus and furniture." He holds a diploma degree in physical chemistry and a Ph.D. in thermodynamics both from the Technical University Aachen/Germany. After his education he worked 10 years as application chemist for a Swedish analytical devices manufacturer, and for 15 years he has coordinated the standardization activities for laboratories at ISO, CEN, and DIN.