Rethinking Airflow in the Lab Decarbonization Conversation

Sep 24, 2026

Not surprisingly, we came away from I2SL thinking a lot about airflow, but maybe from a slightly different angle. There were a lot of great presentations and conversations around electrification, heat pumps, heat recovery, low-temperature hot water and lab decarbonization. While we listened to those conversations, our thoughts kept coming back to the demand side. The industry is spending a lot of time figuring out how to condition CFMs more efficiently, but there’s also a big opportunity in looking at how many CFMs we actually need.

This isn’t a new approach. Aircuity and demand control ventilation have been reducing lab airflow based on actual conditions for more than two decades. Across thousands of labs, we’ve seen that most of the time the air is clean and higher ventilation rates aren’t needed. When something does occur, DCV responds and increases airflow.

Obviously, 4 ACH occupied / 2 ACH unoccupied isn’t right for every lab. Risk, science, pressurization, thermal loads and mechanical requirements all matter. But our experience is that a very large percentage of research spaces can safely operate this way.

There were some good examples at I2SL pointing in the same direction:

Active ventilation management is becoming a bigger part of lab energy strategies
More projects are exploring lower occupied and unoccupied ACH rates
ASHRAE and other standards continue to move toward measured, variable, risk-based ventilation

The difference between 6 ACH and 4/2 can be significant. It means less heating, cooling and reheat energy, less fan energy and lower peak heating and cooling loads. It can also mean less plant capacity and electrical infrastructure. That matters whether you’re electrifying today and need to reduce your base load, trying to reduce operating costs or looking to get more capacity out of the infrastructure you already have.

After more than 20 years of DCV operating experience, I think there’s an opportunity to put more emphasis on this side of the equation. We know how to reduce airflow when conditions allow and increase it when conditions require it. Before we focus on the most efficient way to condition a CFM, it’s worth asking whether that CFM is needed in the first place.

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