Fume Hood Shut the Sash Pilot Program

Fume hoods account for 40-70% of the total energy used by laboratories.

As such, campaigns working to change behaviours surrounding fume hood sash closure make labs not only more energy efficient, but also safer. Here, Caltech Green Labs proposes a summer-long campaign to collect data, educate, encourage behavioural changes, and assess success of a "Shut the Sash" campaign.

In a study published by MIT, the addition of homemade Motion and Sash Height (MASH) sensors, which alarm when the fume hood is open and unoccupied by a user for a set amount of time, encouraged users to close the sash and resulted in a 75.6% decrease in average sash height as compared to control groups that did not have a MASH sensor installed. As a result, the energy costs of running each of the fume hoods was reduced by $1,159 per year. We hope to see similar results if such a campaign was implemented at Caltech, making users both more efficient and safer while working in or around fume hoods. In addition, we hope to build upon the original study by incorporating data collection capabilities.

Each homemade MASH sensor costs around $20-$50 to build and are very simple to install. As such, we hope to build and install 50 MASH sensors in various buildings across Caltech. We will preferentially choose buildings that have a large number of variable air volume (VAV) fume hoods that are ideal for our study. In addition, as part of the campaign we will coordinate with lab managers to increase awareness about the program, educate users on proper fume hood usage, and educate users on how the MASH sensors work. The MASH sensors will alarm if a fume hood is left open for more than 5 minutes without a user present, alerting users to shut the sash. Furthermore, participating labs will be entered into a raffle to win donuts for their entire lab!

To run this project successfully, we intend to use help in the form of one or two interns from June 17- August 30 2024. All data collected during this competition will be presented to the community in various forms, including (but not limited to) during the Green Labs Lightning Talks Event around September 20, 2024.

Check out our first official fume hood sensor! This sensor has can detect the height of this sash, as well as if a user is present or not (if it is left unattended too long it will alarm!). It also has WiFi capabilities, so we can download data in real time to see how labs are doing. Credit: Genevieve Gandara

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Check out our first official fume hood sensor! This sensor has can detect the height of this sash, as well as if a user is present or not (if it is left unattended too long it will alarm!). It also has WiFi capabilities, so we can download data in real time to see how labs are doing.

Credit: Genevieve Gandara

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Our plan: Utilizing the help of one intern over the summer of 2024, we hope to build 50 sensors for installation. Before the sensors are installed, we will work with lab managers and PIs to gain permission to run the study, educate users on the safest and most efficient way to use their fume hood, and explain the competition. After a few weeks of baseline data collection, the sensors will be installed and subsequently the alarms will be turned on. Signs will be posted near the fume hoods to inform users of the function of the sensors and course of action to take if the alarm goes off. Education will continue after the program to encourage users on best practices. Our intern will present their work at the annual Green Labs Lightning Talks event, and will produce a writeup describing the campaign results to share with the community.