Fume cupboards are an essential fitting for safe research in most labs, but their use often involves high energy costs and large carbon footprints. Susan Birks looks at how research labs are greening their operations
Energy efficiency is a key concern of laboratories around the world, and is being driven by rising energy costs and the requirements of the latest international building standards. The EU’s Directive on energy performance of buildings (2002/91/EC), rewritten and republished in 2010, has strengthened the energy performance requirements, based on the EU’s aim to achieve a reduction of 20% in greenhouse gas emissions and 20% in energy savings by 2020.
In many laboratories, fume cupboards provide the infrastructure for carrying out modern scientific research in instances where sterility and safety are paramount. Regular use of fume cupboards, however, consumes considerable amounts of energy.
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