Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory is working to improve energy efficiency in high-tech facilities, i.e., laboratories, data centers, and cleanrooms. With their high ventilation requirements and correspondingly high process loads, 7x24 operation, and importance to the overall economy, these types of facilities offer important (and often under-exploited) potential for energy savings. In California alone, two large electric power plants could be avoided with the widespread adoption of measures to improve energy efficiency in this arena, saving half a billion dollars per year for facility owners. To help identify specific promising opportunities, the California Energy Commission sponsored the development of technology research "Roadmaps" for cleanrooms and laboratories (in 2002) and data centers (in 2003). These were developed with industry participation and provided dozens of specific recommendations. The balance of this article focuses on the case of cleanrooms.