Alaska Lab Buys Siemens, Aircuity Systems for Air Change Efficiency

The state of Alaska’s Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory will combine Siemens’ Apogee building automation and laboratory control system with the OptiNet system from airside efficiency company Aircuity to reduce energy consumption while improving indoor environmental quality, the companies announced.

Siemens said that its product offers continuous monitoring of the indoor environment, providing assurance that evidence and experiments are preserved and maintained in a safe and controlled environment. By reducing air change rates at the laboratory, the installation will significant reduce the lab’s energy consumption and carbon footprint, Siemens said.

The information gathered by OptiNet will be integrated into the Siemens Apogee system to adjust the ventilation rates based on the current demands of the labs.

According to the Applications Team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the national consensus standard for room air change rates is four to six outside air changes per hour for a B-occupancy laboratory. In labs that routinely use more hazardous material, such as known carcinogens, 10 to 12 outside air changes per hour are recommended.

Air change efficiency is also a pressing issue in the health sector. In July Johnson Controls launched Healthcare Environment Optimization, an offering that it says will reduce the energy spend of surgical suites by up to $10,000 per operating room. The software integrates building automation systems with surgery scheduling to optimize air exchange rates and energy use.