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Insights.
From our planning practice: how we assess laboratory ventilation, refrigeration and energy systems – concise, well-founded and written for clients.
Energy & networksLaboratory & cleanroomRefrigeration & climateSafety & protection
H₂O₂ fumigation: what a room must be capable of for decontamination to succeed
Room decontamination with gaseous hydrogen peroxide is regarded as residue-free and validatable. Whether it works reliably in operation, however, is decided not by the fumigation unit, but by the room envelope, ventilation and controls.
Read Laboratory & cleanroom3 minCryo-electron microscopy: why cooling must be constant, not powerful
A cryo-electron microscope needs little cooling, but that cooling must be extremely uniform. Anyone who assesses the task on the basis of the cooling load is planning past the actual requirement – and risks unusable measurement series.
Read Refrigeration & climate3 minDehumidification: why a humidity window costs cooling, heating and space
In cleanrooms, laboratories and production rooms, air humidity often has a greater influence on cooling capacity and operating costs than temperature. Defining the humidity window precisely and in a physically meaningful way saves money over the entire service life of the system.
Read Energy & networks3 minLarge-scale heat pumps: how waste heat from data centres gets into the heating network
Data centres give off heat around the clock, which is usually released unused into the air via dry coolers. A large-scale heat pump raises it to network temperature – how economically this succeeds is determined above all by the temperature lift.
Read Refrigeration & climate3 minData centre cooling: when air is sufficient and when water must take over
Cold aisle or hot aisle, rear-door cooler or direct-to-chip: the choice of cooling system determines the floor space, energy consumption and waste heat utilisation of a data centre. The deciding factor is not fashion, but the heat output per rack.
Read Safety & protection3 minBiosafety: what really determines the containment level of a laboratory
Whether a laboratory needs level 2 or 3 is not decided by the label “biological”, but by a risk assessment of the organism and the activity. The classification determines the approval route, ventilation concept and construction costs – it belongs at the start of planning.
Read Safety & protection3 minRadionuclide laboratory type A, B or C: what drives the classification – and what it triggers in construction
The statement “We work with radioactivity, so we need a type A laboratory” is usually wrong: the type of working area follows from the activity in relation to the nuclide-specific licensing limit. And it determines fire protection, ventilation, plumbing and floor plan all at once.
Read Safety & protection3 minPressure cascades in containment: pascals, not cubic metres
A room is deemed critical – so it gets more exhaust air. This reflex is expensive and offers no protection: hazardous substances stay in the room because a stable pressure differential dictates the direction of flow, not because a lot of air is moved.
Read Laboratory & cleanroom3 minMaterial choice in the laboratory: steel or HPL – what is really sustainable
Steel is regarded as energy-intensive, synthetic resin panels as light and robust. For fume cupboards and laboratory furniture, however, what matters is not the label of the material, but how long a component remains safe, repairable and reusable in its position.
Read Energy & networks2 minAnergy networks: why cold district heating makes neighbourhoods more efficient
A network that runs at almost ground temperature heats and cools at the same time – and turns every connected building into a potential heat supplier. Properly designed, it enables a neighbourhood to use around a third less electricity for heat.
Read Refrigeration & climate2 minRefrigerant transition: what the new F-gas rules mean for your system
The EU has made the phase-out of fluorinated refrigerants binding, and Switzerland is following suit. Anyone planning a refrigeration system or heat pump today is planning for a refrigerant that must still be available and affordable in ten years’ time.
Read Laboratory & cleanroom3 minComparing fume cupboards properly: safety per cubic metre of air
Anyone who selects fume cupboards by price or maximum airflow is comparing the wrong thing. What matters is how securely a fume cupboard provides containment with how little air – with 100 or more fume cupboards, this becomes the single biggest lever in the entire ventilation system.
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