Lower Cost Alternatives for Energy Reduction in Laboratories Through Upgrading VAV Controls and Retrofitting Fume Hoods
Tom Smith, Exposure Control Technology, Inc.
Greg Eades, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has considered many options for reducing energy in its 1,000,000-square-foot laboratory in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, including replacing the commercial grade VAV controls with state of the art VAV systems and replacing the traditional fume hoods with high-performance fume hoods. The cost of replacing the existing VAV control terminals and the cost of replacing the fume hoods was prohibitive, considering current budget constraints and the fact that the work would require major renovations and unacceptable disruption of research activities. An alternative was proposed to simply upgrade the components of the existing VAV control terminals and retrofit the fume hoods to improve performance at lower flow. A pilot project was initiated on one floor containing 32 modules and 15 fume hoods. The modifications resulted in flow reductions approaching 30 percent at approximately 20 percent of the cost of replacement. The success of the pilot project led to funding of the retrofits for the remainder of the laboratory controls and fume hoods. The anticipated energy reduction achieved from the work should result in a campus-wide energy reduction of 10 to 15 percent with a payback less than three years. During this presentation, the speakers will describe the system upgrades, fume hood retrofits, and resulting benefits for the EPA.