Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Existing approaches for saving energy in hoods are complicated and costly to implement, and do not address the worker safety issues inherent in the traditional fume hood design. Innovation is hampered by various barriers stemming from existing fume hood testing/rating procedures, entrenched rules of thumb, and ambiguous and often contradictory guidance on safe levels of airflow. To address the shortcomings of existing approaches and to promote innovation in the marketplace, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed and patented a promising new technology--The Berkeley Hood--which uses a "push-pull" approach to contain fumes and move air. Small supply fans located at the top and bottom of the hood's face, push air into the hood and into the user's breathing zone, setting up an "air divider" at the hood opening. Consequently, the exhaust fan can be operated at a much lower flow rate. Because less air is flowing through the hood, the building's environmental conditioning system can be downsized, saving both energy and initial construction costs--offsetting the potential added cost of the Berkeley Hood. This report describes the technology development behind the Berkeley Hood, field trials demonstrating pollutant containment down to 34 percent of full flow, current R & D needs, and technology transfer work underway to continue moving the hood towards commercialization conservative assumptions, we have identified a preliminary U.S. electricity savings potential for the Berkeley Hood of $240 to $480 million annually, a number that would rise with the inclusion of space-heating fuel.