The U’s “Shut the Hood” program has saved thousands of dollars and hopes to continue expanding.
In an effort to cut costs and conserve energy, Facilities Management launched a project to close fume hoods in the Sorenson Molecular Biology Building. Shireen Ghorbani, communication specialist, said that by closing the hoods, a lot of energy and money can be saved.
To illustrate how much energy is required to run the fume hoods, Facilities Management’s website asked people to “imagine what your heating or cooling bill would be if you replaced all the air in your household with outside air every 30 minutes.”
Several institutions have already implemented this practice and have seen significant savings per hood. For example, Harvard’s “Shut the Sash” saw positive results. According to data from the university’s website, annual energy savings were over $240,000, and the program claims to “save more energy than any other behavioral program at Harvard.”
Facilities Management saw similar results where approximately $2,000 was saved monthly by closing 95 percent of hoods overnight.
To promote the movement, SMBB has stickers on equipment reminding students to close hoods when not in use, and signs around lab areas explaining the impact of leaving them open. One of these notes state that a single hood “consumes the same amount of energy as 3.5 homes per year.”
“It’s Good to Shut the Hood” stickers have been placed solely on Variable Air Volume (VAV) fume hoods, and not on Constant Air Volume (CAV) fume hoods. VAV hoods use less conditioned air and thus less energy when shut.
Ghorbani said they would “ultimately love to implement this program across campus.”
Meliss Gulbransen, a fifth-year student in biomedical engineering, has observed the stickers and appreciates the effort for environmental impact.
John Nelson, a senior in biomedical engineering, has done work at SMBB and participates in yearly protection training in these labs.
Ghorbani said in addition to shutting the hoods to conserve energy, other initiatives include using lighting fixtures only when necessary.
“It takes awareness and changes in behavior,” Ghorbani said. “With more efficient upgrades [we can] really make an impact.”
@NikiVenugopal