Fume Hood Laboratory Design: 3 Things to Consider

Fume hood laboratory design tips for safe, efficient spaces Your fume hood laboratory has been approved and you have a working budget. Now comes the fun part: fume hood laboratory design and planning.

When it comes to deciding how many fume hoods your laboratory will hold, and where you should place them, avoid relying solely on the square footage and layout of the room. To ensure your laboratory is safe and efficient, you’ll want to take three things into consideration during the fume hood laboratory design process.

Consideration #1: Traffic patterns. Any movement that disturbs air, whether that movement is a result of foot traffic or of a door opening or closing, will affect fume hood airflow and operation. To ensure safe, consistent fume hood functioning, fume hoods should be placed in areas where minimal push and pull of the air occurs. During the fume hood design process, plan to place fume hoods well out of busy traffic patterns, and away from opening and closing doors.

There are many other factors that affect room air patterns, so be sure to get professional advice. A fume hood laboratory design engineer or architect will be able to identify potential room air pattern issues and arrange fume hoods so there is minimal impact.

Consideration #2: Ventilation During the fume hood laboratory design process, it’s important to position fume hoods near ventilation. This is usually not an issue in one-story buildings or in multistory buildings with space between the floors, but can become problematic in multistory buildings that don’t have enough space for ducting. A fume hood laboratory design or planning specialist can help position fume hoods to avoid horizontal ducting.

Consideration #3: Fume hood users When designing your fume hood lab, be sure to take your users into consideration. A research laboratory, for example, may require a completely different set up than a classroom. If your lab includes a demonstration hood, be sure to set up other fume hood stations so that they can easily view the teacher.  Consider whether group work and communication between fume hood users is necessary, or if it’s preferable to arrange fume hood stations with individual work in mind.

Contact Labscape today to speak with our experts to assist you in all your laboratory needs.