Labs21 Energy Performance Criteria

A different yardstick

The typical laboratory is roughly five to ten times as energy intensive as a typical office building and costs about three times as much per unit area.

Labs21

With their inherent complexity of systems, health and safety requirements, long-term flexibility and adaptability needs, and environment impacts, lab facilities present unique challenges for energy efficiency and sustainable design. AEI believes that providing leadership in fields demanding the highest standards of verifiable performance—such as labs and other functionally driven spaces—includes a commitment to producing publicly available best practice and design guides.

AEI was a contributing author, reviewer, and participant throughout the development of the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency Labs21 Energy Performance Criteria (EPC) document, that these unique space types might also have adequate benchmarks for sustainable achievement. AEI has also participated in the development of five Labs21 Best Practice Guides: Efficient Electric Lighting in Laboratories (contributing author); Commissioning Ventilated Containment Systems in the Laboratory (contributing author); Chilled Beams in Laboratories: Key Strategies to Ensure Effective Design, Construction, and Operation (reviewer and information graphics); Low-Pressure Drop HVAC Design for Labs (reviewer); and, Technical Bulletin: Measured Peak Equipment Loads in Laboratories (contributor).