Ellen Sweet, MS, CCHO Cornell University

March, 2014

Cornell’s Laboratory Ventilation Management Program

Developing a System that Aligns Stakeholders

Introduction

•  Regulatory goals and guidance for general lab ventilation

•  The Cornell Lab Ventilation Management system •  How we assign general ventilation rates •  Our new Lab Design Standard revision

The Regulatory Expectation for General Lab Ventilation

The OSHA Lab Standard 29 CFR 1910.1450 requires that the employer limit employee exposure to hazardous chemicals used in their labs.

OSHA’s Guidance for General Lab Ventilation: •  Directional Airflow to control fugitive odors •  Air is continually ventilated, preventing increase of air

concentrations of toxic substances •  General ventilation alone “should not be relied on for

protection from highly toxic substances released into the laboratory”

! That’s what the hood is for.

•  Building and Mechanical Codes (i.e. ASHRAE)

Guidance on General Lab Ventilation

•  OSHA’s Lab Standard: Traditionally, 4-12 room air changes/hour is normally considered adequate general ventilation, if local exhaust systems such as hoods are used as the primary method of control.

•  NFPA 45 says labs must be “continuously ventilated under normal operating conditions” and “hoods shall provide containment of hazards and protection of personnel.”

•  NFPA 45 refers to the ANSI Z9.5 Standard for Laboratory Ventilation for face velocities and minimum flow rates of fume hoods.

Three Systems Working Together

Managing These Systems

•  In order to manage interacting subsystems, Cornell is taking a systems approach

•  This is the combination of 2 ANSI standards •  The OHS Management System

(based on ANSI Z10) – Requires definition of Stakeholder Roles and

Responsibilities – Recommends using Key Indicators to track continuous

improvement rather than a final state •  Laboratory Ventilation (based on ANSI Z9.5)

– Outlines institutional specifications for general ventilation, storage cabinets, and fume hood containment

Laboratory Ventilation as a System

•  Managing within Systems •  Systems include multiple priorities

associated with a variety of stakeholders •  Systems can be simple (a change results

in a predictable outcome) or complex (a change results in a variety of outcomes, some predictable)

•  Managing within a system requires flexibility and practice

•  Laboratory ventilation managers face competing priorities (science, safety and sustainability)

The LVMP Management System

Energy

Safety

Energy

Safety

Plan

Do

Check

Management Review

Indicators

Indicator  Groups Indicator Oversight  

Department Type  of  indicator

Leading  /  Lagging

Plan:    Green  

Laboratories

Distribu2on  of  labs  in  Laboratory  Ven2la2on  

Control  Bands  on  campus

EHS  Lab  Ven2la2on  Program Sustainability Leading

Do:    Hood  

Housekeeping

Improvements  in  Hood  Housekeeping  Score

EHS  Lab  Ven2la2on  Program Safety Leading

Check:    Energy  Use

Amount  of  energy  used,  and  consequent  carbon  

emissions,  by  Cornell  labs  on  an  annual  basis

ECI  and  Sustainability  Program

Sustainability Lagging

Act:    Chemical  Safety  

Condi2ons

Improvement  in  laboratory  safety  observa2ons,  based  on  

EHS  audit  scores,  IAQ  concerns,  and  hazmat  

responses

EHS  Lab  Ven2la2on  Program Safety Lagging

New Indicators

•  Designed to be Leading Indicators that contribute to Key Indicators –  “Hood Housekeeping Score” (aka HHS) is designed to

capture information about how fume hoods are being used in laboratories.

– The Laboratory Ventilation Control Banding sorting is based on the chemical hazards associated with the work conducted in the laboratory.

 

Hood  Housekeeping  Score  (HHS)  

Hood  Housekeeping  Score  (HHS) Reason  for  concern

1 Hood  decommissioned None

2 Hood  on,  used  for  a  single  chemical  process  or  well  organized  mul2ple  purposes None

3 Hood  on,  but  empty  or  being  used  for  storage Sustainability

4 Hood  on,  crowded  or  used  for  compe2ng  mul2ple  chemical  uses Safety

5 Hood  on  and  contamina2on  evident Safety The  higher  the  Hood  Housekeeping  Score,  the  more  serious  the  concern  

 

Control Banding Lab General Ventilation Rates

•  Control banding is a generic protection strategy that groups similar hazards into “control bands”; for laboratory ventilation, it is based on which chemicals are involved and how they are used.

•  Rooted in CFD modeling, our approach to operating general ventilation rates starts with 8/4 (occupied/unoccupied) minimum ACH and looks for opportunities to go 6/3 ACH when the chemistry permits.

•  These target rates can be overridden by exhaust or temperature requirements.

 

Risk Assessment Process

8/4 ACH

6/3 ACH

Updating the Cornell Lab Design Standard and Process

•  Revision of design standard to align with operational parameters; particularly energy conservation considerations

•  Includes stakeholders from the generic design process: •  Facilities Engineering •  Energy Management •  EHS

•  The process provides more flexibility in ventilation system sizing, mechanical requirements and interactions between departments during a lab design process

Changes to the Cornell Lab Design Standard

"  Definitions for lab-scale, hood hibernation, and lab vacancy provided

"  Incorporated NYS mechanical code section 510 requirements concerning Hazardous Exhaust Systems

"  Encourages laminar flow in the lab to improve ventilation effectiveness (impacts location of casework and hoods)

"  Requirement for CFD modeling tied to size of project budget

"  Encourages opportunity for commissioning hoods at lower face velocity (80 fpm)

"  Lower minimum air volumes for fume hoods (150 ACH~ 10 cfm/ft2) permitted

Next Steps

•  Additional training for lab occupants to raise awareness of their role in the system

•  Annual reporting of results (HHS, control banding efforts)

•  Developing a Lab Housekeeping Score (LHS) system

•  Hood hibernation SOP (using the University asset management database)

•  Developing fume hood performance criteria for institutional design specifications (modified ASHRAE 110?)

Questions