How building automation impacts health, efficiency, and indoor air quality in hospitals
How does building automation ensure hospitals are safe, secure, comfortable environments for everyone?
Laboratories are highly controlled spaces. Ever wonder how a building automation system ensures safety and accuracy in lab work? Let's look inside a lab where people handle chemicals.
Essential building automation system functionality includes:
The fume hood is a key component of a chemical lab and can be the most energy-consuming piece of equipment. Connected to the lab's HVAC system, the fume hood creates a safe space for people to handle chemicals, where constant ventilation sucks toxic fumes out of the room. A motion sensor can be used to close the glass sash (a sliding door) if nobody is detected. Keeping the sash closed can halve the energy used by the fume hood, which may equal what three or four residential homes use in a single day.
Sensors placed at various heights in the lab detect harmful gasses in the case of a leak. The building automation system monitors air quality with such precision it can detect pockets of CO2 where people congregate, engaging ventilation when air flow is needed.
Depending on whether air from hallways needs to be kept out, or potentially harmful particles need to be kept in, a lab can be pressurized accordingly. If lab occupants are running tests on photosensitive substances, they can dim the lighting to an exact setting. Humidity control could be important to prevent static shock or ensure the stability of a chemical.
If the worst happens, the building automation system can sound alarms and initiate emergency protocols according to its programming.
The Reliable Controls MACH-ProView is an ideal controller for labs, with its customizable screen and easy-to-use graphics.
Curious about where Reliable Controls solutions are used to manage lab facilities? Learn more.
How does building automation ensure hospitals are safe, secure, comfortable environments for everyone?
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