International Sustainability Award for TEL University of Glasgow Project 

A laboratory project by Temperature Electronics Ltd (TEL) is helping to save a university laboratory a projected 270MWh of energy and over £34,000 in associated energy costs per year.

TEL’s work with one of the UK’s leading fume cupboard manufacturers, Laboratory Specialist Services Ltd, for the University of Glasgow, was part of the institution’s laboratory refurbishment project, which recently won the refurbished laboratory category of the S-Lab 2015 Awards.

The University of Glasgow’s project involved the consolidation of its medicinal chemistry and chemical biology laboratories into a single 500m2 open plan laboratory in the grade A listed Joseph Black building. 

The new laboratory was created to facilitate collaboration between staff, while minimising energy and water use. The University of Glasgow is striving to help Scotland meet the Scottish government’s climate change target of a 42% reduction in national greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

Laboratory Specialist Services Ltd installed an innovative variable air volume (VAV) fume cupboard system, incorporating TEL’s AFA1000/E digital airflow controllers and auto sash controllers.  The VAV controllers regulate airflow according to need, while the auto sash controllers automatically close the fume cupboards when not in use.

The VAV system was selected as an energy-saving alternative to a conventional constant airflow volume (CAV) fume cupboard system, whereby air is continuously sucked out of the laboratory and replaced with clean air, even when the cupboards aren’t in use.

TEL projects that the new VAV system will use 270MWh less of energy and generate £34,000 less in associated energy costs per year than would a conventional CAV solution.

Said the University of Glasgow school of chemistry’s Graham Tobasnick:  “The new fume cupboard VAV control system is playing a major role in minimising our energy consumption and expenditure, and we are delighted that our sustainable refurbishment has been recognised by S-Lab.”

With a product range comprising CAVs, VAVs, local exhaust ventilation (LEV) monitors, auto sash controllers and volumetric controls, TEL has unrivalled expertise in the airflow control and monitoring market, and its products are used in thousands of industrial settings and laboratories across the world.