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Laboratory Energy Benchmarking Initiative

Labs are energy intensive using 5 to 10 times more energy per square foot than an average office building. A typical laboratory fume hood running continuously will use 3 to 4 times more energy than an average house!

Fortunately, there are ways to improve efficiency and reduce energy use. The US EPA’s Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21) Exit ENERGY STAR program estimates that most labs can reduce energy use by 30 to 50%.

A key step towards identifying savings is to assess how efficiently your lab uses energy.

Developing an ENERGY STAR Rating

ENERGY STAR and Labs 21 are working together to develop an energy performance rating for labs. A critical step towards developing an efficiency rating is to gather a robust data set on lab energy use.

If you would like to help, enter energy and operating data about your lab into the Labs21 Benchmarking Tool Exit ENERGY STAR. Your data will be kept confidential. You will also be able to edit and conduct benchmarking comparison with other labs. Any organization with labs is encouraged to participate.

Benchmarking 5 or more labs?

If so then fill out the Labs 21 Portfolio Input Excel spreadsheet to have your data uploaded to the Labs21 Energy Benchmarking data base all at one time.

Learn more about and get involved

For more information on the ENERGY STAR — Labs21 Benchmarking initiative or to join the mailing list to learn about web seminars and update meetings, contact Walt Tunnessen at Tunnessen.walt@epa.gov.

Laboratory Energy Management and Design Resources