VOICES | DAVID BEHAN Pushing the boundaries With laboratories making up a large proportion of energy use in education buildings, Etchs David Behan MICBSE says engineers should work closely with scientists to improve research processes and cut building emissions W e are currently witnessing a meteoric rise in the demand for laboratory space in the UK. The country has fast become a leading centre for life sciences and is projected to be the third-largest biotech cluster in the world. Life sciences generate 64bn of turnover in the UK and employ more than 233,000 scientists and staff. In a number of key clusters across the UK, demand is starting to outstrip supply. The complex environmental requirements for scientific research mean labs can be incredibly energy intensive, often 3-5 times1 more than a standard building and up to 8-10 times more for specialist chemistry or containment facilities. Much of this energy is used for ventilation, but small power requirements represent a significant proportion, particularly for equipment such as ultra-low temperature freezers. As a result, laboratories make up a large proportion of the energy used by higher education institutions. At the University of Oxford, for example, science buildings account for 65% of total energy use. Construction professionals, and science, research, technology and innovation leaders and researchers are increasingly aware of the carbon footprints of buildings and campuses, and are focused on reducing energy use in laboratories. Universities such as Oxford are keen for designers to consider building life-cycles and include provision for science to evolve while minimising energy use. Building services design must not interfere with the integrity of the science and should be mindful of cost and space constraints. By working closely with scientists, exceptional energy reductions can be achieved by improving laboratory procedures and processes, and reducing base energy loads. Take -80C freezers, for example. Typically, these consume as much energy as a standard UK home when new, and up to three times this as they get older. This doesnt need to be the case. Large amounts of energy can be saved by changing the temperature to -70C, and increasing freezer size and quantity. These actions will reduce capital and operational expenditure. Building services engineers can also help reduce energy by: contributing to building massing and faade development; influencing laboratory equipment quantities and location; and optimising mechanical ventilation design, which may incorporate innovations such as fume extract heat recovery, wind-responsive exhaust and demand-based ventilation air change rates. Engineers are uniquely placed to go beyond their core discipline and challenge the norms of laboratory practice to develop strategies that deliver outstanding designs. However, there are key obstacles to improving laboratory design. There is a skills shortage and the sector suffers from a dearth of technical guidance and regulatory frameworks. We have worked for many years in laboratory design and have found it to be one in which innovation has not been as prevalent as in other sectors. Passivhaus, for example, has become popular in many other sectors, but has only recently been applied, on a modest scale, in science and research settings. To deliver innovative buildings in the UK, industry bodies need to produce data and reference material to support designers and scientists. There also needs to be a broader regulatory framework to ensure we compete with global competitors. Investment in science and research in the UK is dwarfed by the US and China, which each invests more than 12 times as much. The US has a history of producing comprehensive technical guidance documentation via its representative industry bodies. As members of CIBSE, we have a responsibility to share our knowledge and support engineers and building physicists to deliver exceptional buildings. Several measures are necessary to ensure we learn lessons from the past to deliver low-energy laboratories that facilitate the endeavours of our brightest minds. It is imperative we use Passivhaus as a design tool to deliver outstanding airtight faades, innovative ventilation design and in-depth equipment selection. There is a necessity for all of us, as construction professionals, to do better when it comes to laboratory design, construction and operation. Time is running out. There is a skills shortage and the sector suffers from a dearth of guidance and regulatory frameworks DAVID BEHAN MCIBSE is a director at Etch Acknowledgements: Sam Walden, partner, project management, Bidwells; Adrian Gainer, director at specialist laboratory designer Novus Space; Tom Yearly, deputy head of sustainability, University of Oxford References: 1 University of Edinburgh & S-Lab, My Green Lab 18 March 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE March 22 pp18 David Behan.indd 18 25/02/2022 18:28