General Building Considerations

Building clusters:

• Foothills: CVID/RIC/Phase III
• South Campus
  • Veterinary Teaching Hospital and associated buildings
  • Diagnostic Medical Center
  • Translational Medicine Institute
  • Bay Facility

• Pathology
  • BSL-2 facilities
  • BSL-2 infectious disease facilities
  • BSL-2 prion research facilities

• Path LAR
  • ABSL-2 facilities
  • ABSL-2 infectious disease facilities
  • ABSL-2 prion research facilities

• Microbiology
  • BSL-2 facilities
  • BSL-2 infectious disease facilities

• BRB/DMC/Painter

Building level energy usage:

This information is accessible through facilities management, interested users can access EnergyCAP, a ‘software program designed for many things, such as energy information tracking, assessing the impacts of weather and rate changes, and calculating the cost avoidance attributable to energy management project.’  An example of available output data for CVID is seen below.

HVAC:

Here at CSU, we have noticed that a lot of people complain about room temperatures: rooms are too cold in the summer/warmer months and too hot in the winter/colder months. Adjusting building temperatures to more closely align with outside temperatures will increase employee comfort as they acclimate and dress according to these environmental temperature fluctuations.  Decreasing the use of heating and cooling will additionally reduce energy usage both from the HVAC system and from the use of space heaters in offices.  Use of more moderate temperatures in work environments, where individuals spend a significant portion of their time, may also have a more widespread impact if they then similarly adjust the temperature in other areas of their lives due to acclimatization.  Although temperature adjustments can be more challenging in some spaces, such as animal research facilities (see the animal research section for guidelines), 85% of the CVMBS square footage is non-animal facilities and adjusting building temperatures even a few degrees could have a large impact on energy usage.

-Lighting:

Using motion sensors or timers for building lighting throughout CVMBS buildings could reduce unnecessary energy usage dramatically. While conversions of electrical switches present a high initial cost, it can result in savings in the long term. Signage can also be added to switches as a reminder to turn the lights off in any building for which sensors and timers cannot be utilized.

-Outlet Timers:

Outlet timers can be used for water baths, vortexes, centrifuges, and other lab machines. These timers can be set to turn on the machines at a certain time each morning and to turn off at a certain time each night. The timers allow unhindered utilization during working hours without wasting energy during unproductive hours of the night. Machines could be temporarily disconnected from the timers and used outside of timer windows if after-hours work is necessary. Reduction in machine run-time can extend the life of the machines, lowering operating costs, maintenance fees, and machine replacements and the reduced energy consumption can save money.

Cold Storage:

Implementing best practices for all cold storage can significantly decrease energy use, prolong the life of equipment, and increase research sample accessibility and integrity.  One impactful example is to “chill up” ULT freezers from -80°C to -70°C. Please see Cold Storage section for more information.

Autoclaves:

To reduce the energy and water usage, an autoclave schedule can be implemented that would allow an autoclave to be run only when there is a full load. Limiting autoclave runs can reduce energy usage annually. To do this, carts can be placed in a waste staging area, and the carts or cart shelves can be labeled with settings necessary for the waste, such as temperature and length of cycle. Autoclaves would be run at the labeled settings once the cart was full. For high-usage labs and for limited staging spaces, a schedule could be created: for example, loads at one cycle specification could be run in the morning and a different cycle specification could be run in the afternoon. Because of the training required to operate the autoclaves and the monitoring needed to ensure carts do not overfill, it is recommended that an autoclave manager be assigned or hired for this purpose. A student worker or undergraduate could be employed for regular completion of this task. Alternatively, laboratory technicians or managers could fulfill this task. This method would be useful for autoclaving trash or for sterilizing laboratory dishes and supplies, but this may not be an effective method for media or high-level biosafety settings.

Dishwashers:

Similar to the autoclave recommendations, dishwashing can be placed on a schedule so that automated dishwashers are run only once the loads are full. If only a few dirty dishes are generated that need to be cleaned, these dishes can be hand washed rather than placed in automated dishwashers, which would reduce energy cost, wait time for dishes to be cleaned, and water consumption.

Recycling:

Buildings can increase recycling opportunities as an alternative to landfill disposal. Recycling centers can be identified by contacting waste managers for different buildings. Labs can designate one day a week to take recycling materials to the designated locations, or they can coordinate with waste managers for pickup. Waste managers can indicate which laboratory items are eligible for recycling, which would ensure a successful recycling procedure that meets the needs of each lab and its members.