Maintaining air quality parameters while reducing HVAC costs

The rising cost of energy has put ventilation efficiency in the spotlight for MRL-Boston's 50,000 sq ft animal facility. Nirah Shomer and Troy Hawkins reveal lessons-learned and successes from a green initiative involving condition-based air quality monitoring, demand-driven ventilation, and assessment of HEPA needs. They detail equipment changes, mitigation measures for over-designed facility features, and procedures for ensuring healthy operating conditions for animals and workers while substantially lowering air-change rates. They examine pre- and post-initiative energy consumption numbers, and they profile data gathering and presentation methods used to meet regulatory requirements and satisfy accrediting organizations

Leaders:

• Nirah Shomer, DVM, PhD, DACLAM -- Director of Laboratory Animal Resources, Merck Research Laboratories -Boston
• Troy Hawkins -- Senior Site Facilities Engineer, Merck Research Laboratories -Boston