Even disregardiang the mammoth cost of replacing the hoods, Bio and Chem labs users dread the thought of changing them. Geoffrey P. Pollitt, director of the Bio Labs, says replacing the hoods would be "very disruptive to operations" and he would rather try using dampers on the present hoods or closing them off at night. But Donald J. Ciappenelli, director of the Chem Lab says that shutting down overnight would prove impossible because graduate students often monitor their experiments 24 hours a day.

To test the benefits of new hoods, Abernathy and company have suggested installing them in only one floor of Conant Hall--one of the Chem Lab buildings--before making any firm decisions. They had the same idea in mind when they suggested last summer's Thayer Hall regulations, Abernathy says. Aside from insulating Thayer's roof, replacing its incandescent lighting with fluorescent lights, and installing smaller showerheads, the renovation teams equipped each room with thermostatic controls, Leahy says. Abernathy says he believes the new heating procedure will eliminate excessively hot or cold rooms; if it proves cost- and energy-efficient, the other Yard dorms may follow suit. But first "you have to get to know where the trouble sports are," he says.

That's not yet possible for the upperclass Houses, though, because energy investigators cannot study small portions of a House without disrupting students' lives, Abernathy says. But he adds that a study of the Houses may take place in summer 1981. Next summer is also the target date for completing work on the Yard dorms, pending the Thayer experiment. "We would do the whole Yard in one fell swoop--I'd say it would take two or three days" to insulate each Yard building, Abernathy says.

Time may not be a problem, but money is another story. Although Leahy says precise estimates have not been determined, he adds that "we could over the next two years spend $2 million." That figure excludes expenditures for fume-hood renovations in the labs or possible House renovations. To finance the project, the Faculty--which has built a $785,000 deficit into its 1980-81 budget--would have to use reserve funds associated with particular buildings and float a loan from the Corporation.

Robert H. Scott, director of financial systems, says the Faculty would borrow the necessary money from the Corporation much as if it were taking a loan from a bank. "It would operate precisely the way a homeowner would," he says, adding that the Corporation would charge normal market rates of interest-- now about 12.5 per cent annually. Administrators express little doubt that the Corporation will approve any suggested projects, despite the Faculty's dubious economic position, because renovations will save money in the long run. "If the Faculty has a proposal that makes good economic sense it will pass," Scott says.

Abernathy contends that the initial suggestions he and his group have proposed should pay for themselves with the savings they generate in the near future. Projects with longer "pay back" periods or higher costs--such as the fume hoods--may have to be shelved for the time being, he adds. More important than the renovations the Faculty commissions for its buildings, though, will be the efforts of their occupants in noticing energy inefficiencies and correcting them. Abernathy points to the short length of time necessary to carry out the energy study as proof that reducing energy consumption is not an unmanageable task. "There are a number of people around who believe conservation is torture," he says, adding. "It doesn't have to be."