Design Resources & Guides

Laboratories for the 21st Century Toolkit
The Labs21 program has developed a Tool Kit of resources to support the design, construction, and operation of high-performance laboratories. The tools include design guides, case studies, a performance rating system, a video, and other products that are planned or under development.

Design Guide for Energy-Efficient Research Laboratories
A Design Guide for Energy-Efficient Research Laboratories—Version 4.0—is intended to assist facility owners, architects, engineers, designers, facility managers, and utility demand-side management specialists in identifying and applying advanced energy-efficiency features in laboratory-type environments. The Guide focuses comprehensively on laboratory energy design issues with a "systems" design approach. Although a laboratory-type facility includes many sub-system designs, e.g., the heating system, we believe that a comprehensive design approach should view the entire building as the essential "system." This means the larger, macro energy-efficiency considerations during architectural programming come before the smaller, micro component selection such as an energy-efficient fan.

Design Intent Tool
This database tool provides a structured approach to recording design decisions that impact a facility's performance in areas such as energy efficiency. Using the tool, owners and designers alike can plan, monitor, and verify that a facility's design intent is being met during each stage of the design process. Additionally, the Tool gives commissioning agents, facility operators and future owners and renovators an understanding of how the building and its subsystems are intended to operate, and thus track and benchmark performance.

Web-Based Laboratory Benchmarking Tool
The purpose of this benchmarking database tool is to allow laboratory owners to compare the performance of their laboratory facilities to similar facilities and thereby help identify potential energy cost savings opportunities. The tool will allow benchmarking with energy use metrics (e.g. BTU/sf/yr) as well as system efficiency metrics (e.g. W/cfm). To benchmark a facility, you will need to input facility characteristics (e.g. lab type, gross area) and energy use data (e.g. annual electricity use). Although measured data is preferred, estimated data may also be provided. The data you provide will remain anonymous to other users of the database.

Cleanroom Programming Guide
The aims of our Cleanroom Energy Programming guide are (1) to elevate the importance of energy efficiency as a program requirement for cleanroom design, and (2) to provide guidelines for decisions made early in a cleanroom design project to assist cleanroom owners, and designers to achieve energy efficiency while maintaining or improving other program requirements. The guide provides useful information at the programming phase of a project concerning issues that could have significant impact on energy use. It is intended to stimulate the programming team to make informed decisions to improve overall energy efficiency while addressing other program issues.

Calculating Energy Savings Using High Efficiency DC Power Architecture in Server Applications
Calculations Based on Typical Power Budget for a Dual 2.4 GHz Xeon Processor based 1U Server RackInitial version (Rev 0.0, 04/10/2004). Please send comments to William Tschudi.

Calculating Energy Savings Using High Efficiency Power Conversion (UPS, AC-DC & DC-DC Power Supply) in a Server and other IT Applications
Calculations Based on Typical Power Budget for a Dual 2.4 GHz Xeon Processor based 1U Server Rack (Rev 1.0, 04/10/2004). Please send comments to William Tschudi.

Cleanroom Fan Filter Unit Test Procedure
In collaboration with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan and members of the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) for the high-performance building project supported by the California Energy Commission. The standard method intends to provide a laboratory method for testing fan-filter units. This document focuses on their energy and aerodynamic performance. The use of this method can provide comparable information on energy performance of fan-filter units (FFUs).

Server Power Supply Loading Guideline
The purposes of this Guideline are to ensure that the loading for each DC bus for a multi output server power supply is consistent when measuring power supply efficiency and to allow consistency in comparing server power supply efficiency reported by vendors as part of the electrical specification.
(Draft of 6/21/2004). Send comments to Bill Tschudi.

Fume Hood Energy Calculator
Laboratory fume hoods are energy-intensive. They are intended to provide adequate protection for workers conducting research or manufacturing activities within the hoods. They also provide general laboratory ventilation, and, as a result, often operate 24 hours per day. The typical fume hood uses 3- or 4-times as much energy as a home. This web calculator estimates annual fume hood energy use and costs for a wide variety of climates and assumptions about operation and equipment efficiencies.