At the ECBS SWATeam meeting the report from student capstone project on attitudes toward fume hood energy conservation was discussed. There is a need to sign up the labs for the Freezer Challenge project before January 15, 2017. The last in the fall semester, the Illini Lights Out project is expected on December 9. The Status of Green Labs recommendation was discussed.
Representatives from iSEE, the ECBS SWATeam, F&S, and student interns met to discuss coordination of energy conservation efforts regarding the fume hoods on campus. iSEE and the student interns is investigating the development of a Certified Green Lab Program, like the Certified Green Office Program. F&S is actively reducing fume hoods, through consolidation and moth-balling. The ECBS SWATeam is advocating for more Shut the Sash communication efforts. These groups will continue to move forward, and coordinate their efforts.
Fume hoods are one of the largest sources of wasted energy in laboratories because of inefficiencies in fume hood use. This proposal specifically funds a Fume Hood Energy Conservation Pilot Project in the National Soybean Research Center (NSRC), in which ways to reduce fume hood energy waste through behavioral interventions will be explored.
Small changes in behavior such as keeping hoods closed when not in use can have large impacts on energy conservation, but behavioral changes can be difficult to achieve. This project adapts Harvard University’s highly successful “Shut the Sash” program to the particular needs of Labs in NSRC, first by working closely with “early adopters” — labs that are actively interested in reducing fume hood energy use — to develop protocols, reminders, and reinforcement/tracking systems that help reduce fume hood-associated energy waste, and then by reaching out to other labs in NSRC. The long-term project goals are to make NSRC a model for the campus in fume hood energy conservation, and to develop an approach to fume hood energy conservation which can be readily applied to other labs and buildings on campus.
At the ECBS SWATeam meeting this week, Sam Wilson, a grad student in Communication, presented his ongoing research efforts on fume hood behaviors, which will tie into the development of our Green Labs Initiative. Big Picture Recommendation discussion continued as the team worked on making clear connections to iCAP 2015 in the document, which is set to be submitted by the end of next week. The online Energy Dashboard has been updated, courtesy of Mike Marquissee. Eco-Olympics results indicated competing buildlings across campus achieved up to a 10.6% reduction in energy usage (Lundgren Hall). Grad student Anna Tanaglia presented the success of public speaking sections (CMN 101) that focused on campus sustainability; students seemed to enjoy these topics and some have expressed interest in getting more involved in campus sustainability efforts. Claudia presented a social marketing campaign class project on student involvement in campus sustainability efforts, the findings of which may guide future campus engagement efforts.
Lowering the sashes on laboratory chemical fume hoods (CFHs) can result in significant energy cost savings by reducing the volume of room air that has to be heated or cooled. This project will evaluate the resources, components, and best practices required to develop a model shut the sash program and implement it campus-wide for variable air volume (VAV) CFHs. If successful, the project could generate over $250,200 in annual cost savings. Thus, the Student Sustainability Committee is in favor of funding the full requested amount of $4,400.
