Unused fume hoods.

Fume hoods like these are placed into hibernation mode when they are no longer in use for the day. Since employing the use of hibernation mode, the unoccupied Undergraduate Teaching Lab air change rate has plummeted from 11 air changes per hour to seven ACH, drastically shrinking unnecessary energy outflow, saving MIT an estimated $21,000 per year.

Photo: John Dolhun

Undergraduate Teaching Lab wins Lab Sustainability Award

by Danielle Doughty | Department of Chemistry |
Categories: Awards, Research

The Chemistry Undergraduate Teaching Lab was awarded a Lab Sustainability Award from the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories.

The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) has honored the Department of Chemistry’s Undergraduate Teaching Lab (UGTL) with its Lab Sustainability Award in recognition of the UGTL’s hood hibernation program. By hibernating 58 of its fume hoods when the lab is unused overnight and on weekends, the UGTL has saved a significant amount of energy, and it serves a model for other labs at MIT and beyond.

Two women and two men stand in a row on a stage accepting an award .
Lab Sustainability Award: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chemistry Undergrad Teaching Lab Fume Hood Hibernation, accepted by Ryan Harold.

The mission of I2SL is to encourage resource efficiency and environmental sustainability in the planning, design, engineering, operation, and use of laboratories and related high-tech facilities. To keep pace with progress being made for sustainability in laboratory environments and scientific research, the I2SL Sustainable Laboratories Awards Program recognizes outstanding people, projects, and programs exhibiting innovative and exemplary achievements in sustainable laboratories.