Guest post written by Erlab.

In today’s global push toward sustainability, laboratories across industries face a pressing challenge: how can they support safety and compliance while reducing their environmental impact? Whether in pharmaceutical R&D, industrial chemical testing, biotechnology, private contract labs, or education, traditional lab operations consume vast amounts of energy and resources. They also generate significant waste. These two things make labs some of the most resource-intensive spaces within their organizations. As science continues to drive innovation and problem-solving, the need for more sustainable laboratory practices is becoming ever more urgent.

The Sustainability Burden of Conventional Fume Hoods

Laboratories, with their high ventilation demands and energy intensive equipment, can use up to 10 times more energy than office spaces. Of all the lab equipment—including ultra-low temperature freezers, water baths, and heat blocks—traditional ducted fume hoods consume the most energy.

Each ducted fume hood can consume as much energy as 3.5 U.S. homes annually when left running 24/7, primarily due to the continuous demand for conditioned makeup air. Ducted fume hoods take the chemical vapors and fumes generated in the enclosure and through a series of ductwork and fans, blows the chemicals outside. To do this, ducted fume hoods pull conditioned air from the lab space into the enclosure before exhausting it. This means the same amount of conditioned lab air that is exhausted outside through the ducted fume hoods must be brought into the lab through its HVAC system.

Labs with multiple hoods can become over-ventilated, needing more air changes per hour (ACH) than was determined through a hazard risk analysis. This adds significant energy costs as they continuously bring in conditioned air to makeup for air exhausted through their ducted hoods.

The complexity of ducted fume hoods being part of the lab’s HVAC system does not allow them to easily be turned off when not in use. Fortunately, there are well known energy savings techniques such as managing fume hood operations. Labs with variable air volume (VAV) ducted hoods are encouraged to shut fume hood sashes when not in use to reduce the amount of air exhausted. With VAV ducted hoods the amount of air exhausted depends on the sash height, so when the sash is closed the hood uses a minimum amount of air and less energy. In some labs, shutting the sash is not enough to stay at the minimum ACH leading to over-ventilation. What if there is an even more energy-efficient alternative to shutting the sash?

Ductless fume hoods provide a safe energy efficient alternative to ducted fume hoods. As the name suggests, there is no ductwork with a ductless fume hood. Instead of exhausting the chemical vapors outside, a ductless fume hood uses advanced carbon filtration technology to capture the chemicals vapor and return clean air to the lab. There is no conditioned makeup air needed for ductless fume hoods as they are not part of the HVAC system, making them very energy efficient. A 6 foot ductless fume hood only uses 220 watts of energy and can easily be turned off when not in use. If you were to use a 6 foot ductless fume hood 40 hours a week, that is only 458 kWh per year, significantly less than the 35,000 kWh a ducted hood uses running 24/7.

A Sustainable Solution: Ductless, Filtered, and Future-Ready

Erlab, the inventor of the ductless fume hood, is transforming laboratory infrastructure with eco-efficient, user-centric designs that can reduce carbon footprints and operational costs. These units leverage advanced carbon and HEPA filtration technology to capture chemical vapors, particles, and fumes at the source, recirculating clean air back into the lab environment.

The key environmental and operational advantages of a ductless fume hood include:

• Reduced Energy Consumption: Over the 20-year lifespan of a fume hood, a ductless fume hood uses 94% less operational carbon than a ducted one.
• No External Venting: Filters neutralize pollutants internally, preventing the release of contaminants into the atmosphere.
• Reduced Infrastructure Costs: Ductless fume hoods eliminate the need for building infrastructure disruption, duct maintenance, and air makeup systems.
• Adaptability: Systems are modular, mobile, and scalable—ideal for fast-changing workflows or lean lab configurations.

As energy intensive lab facilities look to become Zero Net Energy or LEED Platinum, Erlab’s ductless fume hoods provide an energy efficient alternative to the traditional ducted fume hood.

Real World Impact: Zero Net Energy in Action

In 2015, Erlab’s ductless fume hoods helped Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts build the first Zero Net Energy laboratory building in the Northeast by making 13 of their 17 fume hoods ductless. The ductless fume hoods helped them to decouple conditioning from ventilation to realize significant energy savings and reach Zero Net Energy.

Erlab’s ductless filtration goes beyond protecting lab personnel. It also works to safeguard the planet and the budget, offering a rare synergy between ecological responsibility and operational excellence.