Most laboratories are five to ten times more energy intensive than a typical office building. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) recognize the need to improve the situation and are taking action by working on a new initiative called Labs for the 21st Century (Labs21). The primary goal of Labs21 is to promote environmental stewardship through measures that promote energy efficiency, water conservation and use of renewable resources.
Marine labs and aquaria often have additional environmental concerns as compared with more traditional labs. The University of Hawai’i Sea Grant College Program (UH Sea Grant), which the Center for Smart Building and Community Design (the Center) is part of, has been established as an EPA/DOE Center of Excellence in Marine Laboratories and Aquaria. The goals of the Center of Excellence include lessening the laboratory impacts to the surrounding environment by making improvements in effluent water quality, and energy use in particular.
Initial efforts are being focused on the UH facilities at the 29 acre Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) site on Coconut Island in Kāne’ohe Bay. The Center and UH Sea Grant as a whole are working together with the UH School of Architecture and HIMB to establish Coconut Island as a national demonstration site for sustainable technologies for laboratory environmental systems.
Currently, the Center is considering such technologies as ground-source heat pump air-conditioning, wind turbine power generators, and variable air volume (VAV) on both fume hoods and for the building air handlers. The primary goal is maximize the efficiency of the equipment currently present on the island and determine which systems need replacement and upgrades. After that goal has been reached, the Center will consider more advanced improvements such as on-site energy generation. |
