Frequently Asked Questions about the AIM Report

The first thing we recommend doing is reviewing the Building Parameters. Some of these have been directly imported from LBT, while others have been assumed based on the properties of your building. We recommend reviewing the assumptions (marked with a yellow Assumption tag) and making any updates you can to improve the accuracy of the parameters for your building. Next, start to construct a package of measures by clicking Create Package. More details on how to get started with AIM are provided in the AIM Quick Start Guide.

The initial subscription version of the AIM Report tool includes 26 different potential measures; users can view the full list here. The initial measures cover lab HVAC systems, controls, ventilation, fume hoods, heat recovery, freezers, other lab equipment, and user behavior change.

Exporting an AIM Report PDF is a good way for a facility manager or consultant to start the conversation with management about the need to invest in lab building improvements to achieve energy efficiency goals. The AIM Report is a credible source of third-party information to convey the potential costs and benefits of energy reduction measures.

The AIM Report was designed to cover a wide range of different types of lab facilities, including academic, commercial, and institutional buildings, and biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering lab spaces. The software presents measures and performs calculations typical of many types of lab facility, but does not at present include considerations of some specialty lab types. Examples of lab types not currently directly addressed by the software include vivarium spaces and clean rooms. These may be included in future versions of the software.

The first version of AIM is limited to Imperial/US units and buildings in US locations. Metric units and international capabilities will be added to AIM in the near future.

While the measure costs represent some typical equipment and installation costs for he various measures, and are adjusted for regional differences, lab owners should consult with qualified professionals to verify costs and obtain formal estimates for their situations.

Many of the most impactful measures applicable to lab facilities involve the air supply and exhaust systems serving lab spaces. For projects in general, and in particular for those involving lab ventilation and exposure control devices, all potential projects should be reviewed by qualified engineering and environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) personnel for safety, applicability, and compliance with organizational EH&S policy and all relevant codes and standards.

The current version of AIM does not include calculations or measures specific to vivarium spaces within facilities. We do not recommend using this version of AIM to identify potential measures for application to vivarium areas. However, the tool can be used to identify opportunities in other areas of facilities that contain vivarium spaces. In future, the AIM Report software may be expanded to include measures specific to vivarium areas.

The current version of AIM does not include calculations or measures specific to clean room areas used for pharmaceutical manufacturing or semiconductor work. We do not recommend using this version of AIM to identify potential measures for application to clean spaces. However, the tool can be used to identify opportunities in other areas of facilities that contain clean rooms. In future, the AIM Report software may be expanded to include measures specific to clean room areas.

It's not necessary to approve all of the Assumptions in order to proceed with the AIM Report. If you identify that the value of any Assumption is correct and you wish to save that value to the relevant LBT record, click on the Approve & Save button to the right of the field. The Assumption tag will then be removed, and the value will be saved to the relevant LBT field (if there is one).

Some of the Building Parameters can have a significant effect on the outcome of the measure calculations. All of the mandatory LBT fields fall into this category, as do some of the Building Parameters in AIM. The most impactful AIM parameters are typically the following: HVAC System Type, Exhaust Fan Control Strategy, Exhaust Air Energy Recovery, Utility rates (electricity, natural gas, hot water/steam, chilled water), Occupied Minimum Air Change Rate, Unoccupied Minimum Air Change Rate, Fume Hood Control Type, % of Fume Hoods in High Hood Density Zones, % of Labs with High Fume Hood Density, and Number of ULT Freezers.

At present, the AIM calculations only accommodate one set of minimum ventilation rates (occupied and unoccupied values) for the lab spaces in the building. If your building contains spaces with a variety of minimum ventilation rates, we recommend using a rate corresponding to the typical space within the building. Future versions of the AIM Report software will accommodate multiple minimum ventilation rates for lab spaces.

At present, the AIM calculations do not include consideration of biosafety cabinets or autoclaves. Future versions of the software may include these equipment types (and associated measures).

No. The software constructs an energy model based on the building parameters you provided and on a set of Assumptions. The software does not adjust the values of these parameters to match the total predicted energy usage for the model to the reported energy use for your building. The model covers only the lab portion of your building, so it would not be appropriate to try to match the total usage values. To predict Energy Scores and Energy Use Intensities after applying measures, AIM subtracts the estimated energy savings from the total building energy usage you reported. If the building data (energy usage and parameters) contains inconsistencies, this can lead to a predicted final energy usage value that is below zero for one or more utilities. This does not necessarily invalidate the energy savings estimate, because all AIM savings calculations are high-level rough estimates that should not be interpreted as high-precision predictions. However, if a negative predicted energy usage value occurs, please first check the values of the parameters entered. Negative final energy usage can also occur in cases where AIM's calculations are not a good match to a specific facility. To help I2SL continue to improve the calculations, please contact us at Labs2Zero@i2sl.org with details of any issues you encounter.

The AIM Report tool was developed with input from four Labs2Zero Technical Advisory Councils (TACs) comprised of I2SL members who are subject matter experts from across the sustainable labs community. TAC members gave feedback on the measures to include, and on their descriptions, savings calculations, and implementation costs. They also provided input on the lab building parameter assumptions, regional cost adjustments, and how to rank the case studies for inclusion in the reports.

Case studies covering the potential energy-saving measures were collected from I2SL members, Labs2Zero sponsors, I2SL award-winning projects, the ASHRAE Journal, and other online sources. Users can submit case studies of the AIM Report measures in action via email to Labs2Zero@i2sl.org as a two- to three-page summary in Word or PDF; please include the lab building owner, location, purpose, square footage, and relevant measures implemented, along with their results, challenges, and lessons learned.

Yes, there are many planned updates in the pipeline. These include additional measures, enhancements to the calculation methodologies, international compatibility, emissions calculations, and new construction applications. Please stay tuned for updates.

AIM calculates measure savings and costs by building on all previous measures in a package. If you were to remove a measure from the middle of the package, the calculations for all following measures would be invalidated and would require recalculation. At present, AIM does not allow the removal of measures other than the last ("top") measure from packages. Future versions of AIM may include the ability to move (and remove) other measures within packages.

No. At present, only one measure at a time can be selected (and added to a package) from the Available Measures list. This is because each subsequent measure's costs and savings are based on the other measures already in the package, and so all other measures must be recalculated after the addition of any measure to the package.

The AIM savings numbers should be treated as order of magnitude estimates, much like the results of an ASHRAE Level 1 building audit. While the numbers are displayed to a much higher degree of accuracy, they should not be interpreted as being accurate to the nearest dollar (or other currency unit). The accuracy of the savings estimates depend on many factors, including the level of detail to which the Building Parameters have been added.

The measure cost estimates should be treated as order of magnitude estimates, much like any cost estimates or payback estimates shown in an ASHRAE Level 1 audit report. While the numbers are displayed to a much higher degree of accuracy, they should not be interpreted as being accurate to the nearest dollar (or other currency unit). The accuracy of the cost estimates depend on many factors, including the level of detail to which the Building Parameters have been added.

No, the current version of AIM requires you to assemble your own package(s) of measures from the Available Measures list. Automatic package generation may be added in future.

The AIM calculations are described in this AIM Help article.

The AIM Report tool uses typical weather data for the building's location to estimate energy savings associated with the identified measures.

Low predicted savings for fume hood-related measures normally occur because the fume hood density is not high enough for the fume hoods to be driving airflows in the lab spaces. If the fume hoods in your building are all concentrated in a small area of the building (and therefore drive the airflow in those spaces), you should use the fume hood density parameters to reflect this properly. An example: if 20 of the 25 fume hoods in a building are concentrated in 10% of the lab space, you should enter "% of Fume Hoods in High Hood Density Zones" = 80% and "% Lab Zones with High Fume Hood Density" = 10%. These spaces will then more likely have hood-driven airflow and you'll start to see savings from those measures.

This does not necessarily invalidate the energy savings estimate, because all AIM savings calculations are high-level rough estimates that should not be interpreted as high-precision predictions. However, there are several possible reasons why this issue may have occurred. We recommend the following steps: 1) Please check the utility usage you entered in the LBT to make sure it's accurate. 2) Please check all building parameters to make sure that they represent your building as closely as possible. 3) If the problem persists, it may be because the AIM Report's measure calculations aren't a good match for your building. Please email us at Labs2Zero@i2sl.org so we can continue to improve the AIM Report.

Each measure description includes some information about how the associated savings calculation was performed. For example, the description for ECM 059A (increased air filter change frequency) explains that the savings are calculated by reducing the supply total static pressure value by 0.5 in w.c.

The return on investment (ROI) and net present value (NPV) calculations, the results of which appear only in the PDF AIM Report, are computed using standard approaches. They make use of the Annual Inflation Rate, Energy Cost Inflation Rate, Hurdle Rage, and Financial Analysis Period parameters, all of which can be adjusted via the Financial tab of the Building Parameters section. The calculations also incorporate annual maintenance costs (the values of which appear only in the PDF report).