{"id":38211,"date":"2021-01-06T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/?p=38211"},"modified":"2025-08-04T17:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T00:45:11","slug":"top-9-actions-to-take-in-the-lab-to-improve-energy-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/the-beaker-blog\/top-9-actions-to-take-in-the-lab-to-improve-energy-efficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 9 Actions To Take in the Lab to Improve Energy Efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n

Did you know that laboratories are one of the largest energy-consuming sectors in the country? In fact, after data centers, labs are widely recognized as consuming more energy per square foot than any other sector. However, taking the proper actions can greatly reduce the amount of energy your lab uses.<\/p>\n

Below, we\u2019ve outlined 9 actions you can take (starting today!) to improve energy efficiency in the lab.<\/p>\n

1. Close fume hood sashes when not in use.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Closing your fume hood sash is one of the most impactful things you can do to save energy in the laboratory. Variable air velocity fume hoods can consume around 3.5 homes worth of energy per day. Whereas constant air velocity fume hoods use the same amount of energy whether they’re open or closed, variable air velocity fume hoods, when open, u<\/span>se a whopping 110 kWh\/day.<\/p>\n

Fume hoods have fans within their exhaust systems that help air flow through the lab and the fume hood itself. When a sash is open, these fans suck in and exhaust a lot of the lab’s heated or cooled air. The constant reheating and recooling of air that will only get sucked in again by the fume hood consumes a lot of energy. By shutting the sash, you’ll reduce the amount of air being wasted, thus saving great deal of energy.<\/p>\n

2. Put autoclaves in standby mode when not in use & only run them when full<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Autoclaves consume 84 kWh per day. Sp<\/span>ecifically, large, steam-jacketed or medical grade autoclaves are massive energy consumers. Ensure you\u2019re putting them into an energy conserving or stand-by mode when not in use, and only run them when they are full.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Set ultra-low temperature freezers to -70 C instead of -80 C<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers, particularly older models, can consume about 25-30 kWh of energy per day, which is as much energy an American home uses in a day. Setting ULT freezers, particularly those that are 10-15 years old, to -70\u00b0C instead of -80\u00b0C will save 30% of this energy.
\nTo learn more about how to optimize sustainability of freezer management in laboratories, visit our\u00a0Freezer Challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Turn off equipment when not in use<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a lot of variability on how much energy your lab equipment consumes. Equipment that has big fan components (like biosafety cabinets), equipment that has heating or cooling elements (like drying ovens, incubators, or water baths), and equipment that pulls a vacuum (like vacuum pumps) tend to be the highest energy consumers in the lab. Turning this equipment off when it\u2019s not in use, or on nights and weekends, can have a big impact on energy usage. Plug load makes up about 20% of energy consumption in a lab. For U.S. labs, reducing plug load by just 10% is the equivalent of taking around 650,000 cars off the road.<\/p>\n

There are various ways to ensure equipment is turned off. You can simply unplug it, or invest in power strips to make it easy to turn multiple small pieces of equipment off all at once. If you need certain equipment to be ready for use when you walk into the lab, use outlet timers; this will ensure equipment auto-turns off at night and auto-turns on at the beginning of the day so that it\u2019s ready to be used as soon as you walk in the door.<\/p>\n

5. Properly maintain cold storage\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Preventative maintenance can help keep cold storage running efficiently. Here are a few tips:<\/p>\n