Environment

The Phantom Laboratory

The Laboratory itself is a study in energy efficiency, with liberal use of foam-filled fiberglass-framed triple-pane windows to maximize natural light while minimizing energy loss. The building incorporates several separate heating/cooling zones and variable lighting to customize working conditions to demand. The building has minimum heating and cooling loads due to insulation values which cut heat losses in half, and a heat recovery system recovers 70% of ventilation loss. This enables the use of small, high efficiency heating and cooling systems. In addition to reducing energy losses the passive solar design of the building provides a significant heat gain in the winter and shades the building in the summer. In 2004, the Laboratory installed a large on-grid solar energy system that was designed to produce 70% of the building's energy requirements. On weekends the excess energy produced goes back to the local electric company, providing clean power for other users. The system reduces by 20,000 pounds a year the CO2 emissions which would have resulted from conventional electrical generation. You can click here for a summary of the Phantom Laboratory's recent solar output.