In the lab: Energy

AU’s labs use a lot of electricity. By reducing our power consumption, we can save money and reduce carbon emissions. On this page, you’ll find lots of tips on how you can reduce power consumption through changes in your routines and habits – without a negative impact on your research and without compromising on the working environment or safety in the laboratory.

Fume hoods are a safety essential when you’re working with hazardous or toxic substances. But they also consume a lot of energy. It’s possible to reduce fume hood energy consumption without compromising the air quality in our labs.    

• Energy consumption will depend on the sash opening. You can save energy by opening the sash as little as possible. This is also an important safety measure. It’s important to close the sash completely whenever you leave the fume hood. 
• Chemicals/samples that must be stored well-ventilated should be stored in a ventilated chemical cabinet, which consumes less energy compared to point extraction or fume hoods. 
• Always turn off/shut point extraction when not in use unless it’s the main ventilation system in the room. 

If you have any questions about energy-efficient usage of fume hoods, you can ask your lab manager or building services division. 

If you come across fume hoods that don’t have automatic sash lowering installed, you can contact your lab manager or your local building services division to discuss solutions. Note that it isn’t possible to install automatic sash lowering on all fume hoods.

Standby electricity consumption accounts for a significant amount of AU’s total electricity consumption. So don’t leave equipment running on standby unless it’s really necessary.

• Get into the habit of turning off equipment that’s not in use.
• Electrically heated equipment is particularly energy-intensive. If you don’t turn off equipment of this kind because it takes too long to warm it up, consider using a timer.
• Help each other put a routine in place: it should be easy and simple to identify both equipment that should be turned off when you leave it, or at the end of the day and equipment that should never be turned off. For example, you could use a system of green, yellow and red stickers and make sure this is part of the introduction to the lab.