Taking Advantage of New Fume Hood Energy Savings Features
Ken Crooks, Phoenix Controls
The speaker will provide a brief demonstration and explanation of four new energy saving approaches and demonstrate fume hood decommission mode, laboratory decommission mode, general exhaust shut-off mode, and the new American National Standards Institute/American Industrial Hygiene Association (ANSI/AIHA) Z9.5 fume hood minimums with functioning table-top equipment.
The fume hood decommission mode reduces a vacant fume hood's exhaust flow to minimum or zero cubic feet per minute (CFM) while not in use. This mode is easily triggered at the fume hood monitor by the user, laboratory manager, or teacher and is applicable to weekend shutdowns, vacation weeks, summer breaks, and any other time that the hood is not needed. If used every weekend, the yearly energy savings would exceed 25 percent of the annual operating costs. When the hood decommission mode is used over weekends and in conjunction with regular school breaks, the yearly energy savings increases to over 40 percent of the annual operating costs. For a standard six-foot fume hood, this savings represents the elimination of 1.3 million cubic feet of outside air for each fume hood per year of use.
Laboratory decommission mode takes the aforementioned approach to the next level by turning off the entire laboratory during non-use periods. This mode is applicable to excess laboratory space that is not being used, laboratories that are transitioning to a new research team/Principal Investigator and other periods of non-use. During laboratory decommission mode, the airflow control system continues to monitor the space temperatures and will alarm the building management system to any extreme temperatures. Otherwise, the space temperature is allowed to drift within an extended range that is applicable to non-occupied spaces.
The fume hood minimum airflow range of air changes per hour (ACH), as detailed
in the new ANSI/AIHA Z9.5-2011 and referenced by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 45-2011, offers
an additional opportunity for significant energy savings per fume hood.
To capitalize on this opportunity, however, the airflow control system
will need to accurately control exhaust flow over a wider range of airflow
turndowns, up to 12 ACH at each terminal device. This extended turndown
range offer significant challenges for flow measurement-based terminal
devices, but not for flow metering terminal devices.
Biography:
Ken Crooks has more than 25 years of experience as a sales engineer, applications engineering manager, product manager, and director of technical services in the commercial and industrial HVAC industries. Currently, Mr. Crooks works as the sales and market development manager for Phoenix Controls in Acton, Massachusetts, which produces airflow control systems for critical environments ranging from laboratories to healthcare. Previously, Mr. Crooks worked for Aircuity, Inc., directing the technical services group and prior to that at Munters Corporation, designing and applying desiccant dehumidification systems for various process industries. Mr. Crooks is an ASHRAE member and Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association (SEFA) committee member and his education includes an HVAC design certificate from Northeastern University in Boston and a Bachelor of Science in management from Lesley University in Cambridge.