Detailed Narrative Description of the Practice Or Program, Limited to One Page Or Less

·  Institutional benefits

The Smart Labs program is an integrated approach to laboratory energy retrofit and new construction projects. UC Irvine’s Energy Team has developed a roadmap to look at each system and break it down into its basic components to reduce the energy used to operate that system by 50%. The energy savings are used to pay for the retrofit over time, but the emissions reductions are realized immediately ensuring that the university meets its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. A distinct benefit of instituting the Smart Lab concept as a retrofit project is the impact the program can have on unfunded deferred maintenance projects. Replacing aging, worn, or neglected systems with new high efficiency components nets a maintenance and reliability increase. Energy savings that provide enhanced reliability result in increased safety for operations within the lab building. The decreased down time from failures increases productivity and ensures students and researchers are provided with the best possible facilities for their research and teaching mission.

UC Irvine has determined that deep energy efficiency programs, as opposed to the 20-30% typical savings of past retrofit projects, are the only currently feasible route to meeting our climate goals. “Low-hanging,” fast-payback projects at most institutions are already completed and now more sophisticated retrofits usually exceeding payback of 8 years are required. These projects are not without risk, and the Smart Lab design that has now been tested is being deployed across UC Irvine’s lab inventory and can be repeated by other intuitions to achieve similar results.

·  Characteristics or qualities that make this program or practice different or innovative

UC Irvine has an assembled an Energy Team with representation and participation from all relevant units of the campus. The group meets regularly during the project development, construction, and analysis phases to ensure that safety and customer satisfaction are not compromised in the name of energy savings. Environmental Health and Safety experts and the Campus Fire Marshal have thoroughly reviewed each component of the Smart Labs concept; recommendations have been made and procedures implemented to maintain the highest level of safety while challenging previous best practices.

The Smart Lab concept has many individual features that UC Irvine has piloted over the last three years before being incorporated into our design guide. In order to make the deep energy cuts that are required to meet a 50% savings goal, theories must be tested, perceptions changed and results evaluated.

·  Exhaust Stack Discharge Velocity Reduction (ESDVR) looks to reduce laboratory exhaust stack velocity and eliminate bypass air by reevaluating the original building wind tunnel study and performing additional wind tunnel testing to avoid re-entrainment and contamination of occupied spaces. Exhaust stack height may be modified to allow for increased plume dispersion and decreased energy consumption. Resulting energy savings of 40-50% have been achieved.

·  Centralized demand controlled ventilation looks at real-time indoor air quality in the occupied spaces and varies the ventilation rates accordingly. This allows for significant air change rate setbacks during times of low process activity and lab space non-occupancy. UC Irvine has adopted a 4 air changes per hour minimum occupied and 2 air changes per hour unoccupied standard versus the previous 6 air changes per hour. The fan energy, chilled water, and hot water energy reduction approaches 40% during occupied hours and 60% during unoccupied periods. In addition the system provides real time feedback of lab air change rates, contaminant levels, and in the event of a chemical or particulate excursion in the lab notification to environmental health & safety personnel.

·  Smart lighting in laboratory space with daylighting opportunities uses controls to reduce light levels when adequate natural light is available. Perforated blinds are used in these spaces to diffuse direct sunlight but allow for partial daylight penetration. Occupancy sensing is used in a bay-by-bay configuration for maximum segmentation while incorporating an auto on to 50% manual on to 100% auto off sequence. In addition all linear fluorescent lighting at UC Irvine has been re-lamped with 25 watt T8 lamps and reduced light output ballast.

·  Lab buildings campus wide that are not Variable Air Volume with Direct Digital Controls are retrofit with lab air control valves, digital thermostats, and occupancy sensors. Office and support space within lab buildings air flows are reduced by 80% when unoccupied.

·  Air Handlers are retrofitted with VFD drives, premium efficiency motors, static pressure reset control sequences, and low pressure drop filters. Sound attenuators are removed and in combination with the new filtration media required fan energy to meet static pressure requirements is reduced by 15%.

·  High performance fume hoods allow for improved containment with the potential to reduce face velocity from 100 FPM to approximately 70 FPM based on a study conducted at UC Irvine in conjunction with CAL-OSHA.

·  UC Irvine purchasing policy requires that new equipment be Energy Star certified. This includes freezers, refrigerators, ice machines, and copiers. All energy saving features are enabled to increase plug load savings. PC Power Management software is installed on desktops and in computer labs.

Please refer to the Smart Lab Energy Project Guide for a more detailed sequence of deployment and all of the features that make up the Smart Lab concept.

Smart Labs are also only as effective as the people who operate and use them. This is why as part of our Smart Lab concept at UC Irvine we have incorporated an extensive training program. The program consists of training for the building technicians that must work on the more sophisticated systems ensuring that they possess the skills required to troubleshoot and repair system failures. We also provide occupants training as they are the front line of defense not only when systems fail, but they also have the greatest impact on realizing the savings of the Smart Lab design.

·  How this practice can be used by others

The Smart Labs design guide was created to share with other campuses as a roadmap to energy saving initiatives while mitigating the risks involved with untested retrofits. All of the elements in our smart lab project have been pilot-tested, and we have reported many of the key results at Labs21 and via free webinars. Laboratories across the country can benefit from the program implemented at UC Irvine. As demonstrated the starting point can be from renovation, all the way to new construction and at any point in between. There are significant savings to be achieved.

In 2010 UC Irvine shared the Smart Labs concept with King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia, University of British Columbia, and Woodhead Architects from Australia. We are committed to not only reaching our energy and climate goals but have the additional goal of sharing our experience and lessons learned.

Exportability of Smart Labs Design

Type of Project / % Energy
Reduction / Estimated Applicable
U.S. Projects / Estimated Total Savings
Billions of BTUs
New wet laboratory / 50% / 350 / 4,700
Retrofit wet lab w/ VAV1 & DDC2 / 50% / 2,500 / 33,500
Retrofit wet lab w/o VAV & DDC / 60% / 3,700 / 60,200
New vivaria / 30% / 60 / 500
Retrofit vivaria with VAV & DDC / 50% / 400 / 6,000
Retrofit vivaria w/o VAV & DDC / 60% / 700 / 10,700
Totals / 7,710 / 115,600

1Variable-air volume

2 Direct digital controls

Note: Estimates based on information from the U.S. EPA, CBECS, and experience-based assumptions.

·  Demonstration of management involvement and employee commitment

UC Irvine’s commitment to the Smart Lab concept is demonstrated by the involvement at every level of the organization in its implementation. No project would be successful without funding and the Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost provided the opportunity, the Vice Chancellor of Administrative and Business Services set the expectation of a 50% reduction and from there the Smart Labs program began. The Assistant Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management put in place the teamwork aspect compiling not only facilities staff, but Environmental Health Safety, lab facility managers, and researchers. The team then scoped and piloted projects communicating the vision of a new lab building design to architects and engineers and evaluating the results. The facilities team also worked to ensure that researchers, staff, and students were trained on the Smart Lab concept to ensure the systems were used as designed. Occupant feedback was incorporated into future designs and the implementation process refined.

The renovation and retrofit projects often take place in operating research labs throughout campus. UC Irvine Facilities Management has included students and staff throughout the process. Facilities Management conducts town hall meetings to share the Smart Lab concept with building occupants prior to construction. This not only keeps occupants informed of construction activities taking place in their lab it also opens a dialog that has led to additional energy savings. Lab users often locate energy waste in lab spaces that may go unnoticed until retro commissioning can take place.

After completion of a Smart Lab renovation or new construction project, building occupants are again contacted by Facilities staff with on-site training and handouts are disseminated throughout the building to provide occupants with information on how to use the newly installed features. Training leads not only to increased lab safety but carbon and energy savings though sash management, best lighting practices, and knowledgeable use of the HVAC system.

·  Documentation of results, analysis, customer feedback, and resulting benchmarks.

Sue and Bill Gross Hall Case Study:

Sue and Bill Gross Hall is UC Irvine’s newest laboratory building and was designed and constructed using our Smart Lab standards. Opened on May 14, 2010 the building is UC Irvine’s benchmark for Smart Lab energy savings.

Features of our newest Smart Lab building, Gross Hall, include centralized demand controlled ventilation, step dimming capability to respond to daylighting opportunities, and operable windows in office spaces to encourage the use of natural ventilation to improve indoor air quality. Air handlers are designed with a low face velocity across the coils and are equipped with deep pleat, high media surface area, MERV 14 filters to reduce system pressure drop and fan motors run on variable frequency drives. Exhaust fans are high plume vector type fans with induced flow and right sized to take advantage of fan law savings through running multiple fans at a slower speed on variable frequency drives. The HVAC design also includes cascade cooling through transfer grills to secondary spaces to eliminate the need for fan-coil units.

Estimated annual energy savings:

•  890,080 kWh electrical with 193 kW demand reduction

•  22,464 therms of natural gas

Estimated annual energy cost savings:

•  $110,980 at $0.105/kWh and $0.78/therm

Savings by Design payment of $397,836 is a rebate from Southern California Edison awarded for the energy efficiency measures that go beyond the current best practices.

Gross Hall was successful in exceeding Title 24 by 50%

Bid as a LEED New Construction (NC) Silver Design Build contractor proposed to increase the sustainable features to achieve LEED NC Gold certification

Rowland Hall Case Study:

Rowland Hall is a 6-story, approximately 200,000 square-feet, university laboratory building constructed in 1968. There are five floors and a basement, as well as a penthouse area. The lab building utilizes 175 fume hoods in support of research laboratories, teaching laboratories, classrooms, and offices. The building also houses a 250-kW (thermal) research nuclear reactor facility licensed by Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a large laboratory support machine shop, and laboratory glassware shop.

Rowland Hall was identified as the largest utility consuming building on campus. Facilities Management, using the Smart Lab design guide, identified retrofit projects that could be implemented in lighting, HVAC, and fume hoods. The building underwent a constant air volume to variable air volume, as well as a pneumatic to direct digital control upgrade. Fume hoods were upgraded with digital lab air control valves and zone presence sensors were installed. Office and support areas were fitted with occupancy sensors that now provide for reduced air flow during unoccupied periods. 32 watt T8 lamps were replaced with 25 watt T8’s and normal light output ballast were replaced with reduced light output, and occupancy sensors were installed.

The project netted not only energy savings but dramatically increased lab safety with superior air flow controls. Labs now remain negative to the corridors, fume hood flows maintain proper calibration, and the reactor facility was provided with flow and pressure monitoring previously unavailable. The Smart Lab retrofit was completed in a fully operational building with careful coordination and sequencing of the work to minimize disruptions to research and classroom activities.

Achieved annual energy savings:

•  3,486,767 kWh electrical with 640 kW demand reduction

•  98,000 therms of natural gas

Achieved annual energy cost savings:

•  $442,550 at $0.105/kWh and $0.78/therm

UC Irvine also received a combined utility rebate of over $922,000 for the achieved savings

Environmentally this Smart Lab project reduced the campus CO2 emissions by 1,660 metric tons.