Intelligent by Design. Transparency Built in.
Join us in Boston from September 13 to 16 for the annual I2SL Conference!
About SmartSash
A Clearer Standard for Laboratory Safety
SmartSash is a Vancouver-based technology platform designed to improve safety, accountability, and energy efficiency in laboratory environments. The system introduces a transparent fume hood sash that integrates RFID user authentication, safety training verification, and real-time behaviour monitoring.
By ensuring that only trained personnel can access hazardous equipment, SmartSash helps laboratories maintain compliance while reducing risk. The system also supports sustainability goals through automated sash closures and user feedback that encourage energy-efficient lab practices.
WIDGETS
What SmartSash Can Do
Hover over the icons to check out all of our different widgets.
Periodic Table
Whiteboard
Maintenance
Timer
Calculator
Teaching
Security & System Modes
Fume Hood Sash
Closed & Locked
To ensure operational clarity, our system differentiates between two distinct types of locking mechanisms:
Software Lock: The system restricts digital access via software. Only the original active user can resume their session, or a new user can start a fresh session by scanning their RFID card.
Mechanical Lock: The physical sash is securely locked in the closed position by the hardware mechanism.
Logout Mode
When a logged-in user explicitly chooses to end their session at the fume hood, the system initiates Logout Mode:
- The user triggers the logout process via an intuitive on-screen button.
- An automated prompt requests the user to fully close the sash before proceeding.
- Once sash closure is confirmed, the system immediately applies both a mechanical lock and a software lock.
- The active session is terminated, stopping all user-attributed data logging, and making the fume hood instantly available for the next user login.
The user triggers the logout process via an intuitive on-screen button.
An automated prompt requests the user to fully close the sash before proceeding.
Once sash closure is confirmed, the system immediately applies both a mechanical lock and a software lock.
The active session is terminated, stopping all user-attributed data logging, and making the fume hood instantly available for the next user login.
ACCESS CONTROL & THE PORTAL
RFID Login with Individual Settings & File Access
Secure Authentication
Integrated RFID user authentication verifies user access before hazardous laboratory equipment can be used, helping laboratories strengthen security and maintain compliance.
Personalized Profiles
Scanning an RFID card instantly logs the user into their personal profile, loading individualized system settings, active workflows, and direct file access.
Compliance & Verification
The login portal serves as a critical safety checkpoint, cross-referencing user credentials with safety training verification databases before granting equipment access to maintain institutional compliance and reduce operational risk.
The SmartSash Portal & SASH IQ™
Authentication serves as the gateway to The SmartSash Portal, our central backend hub. It’s where all the data lives for both users and lab managers. The system tracks Sash IQ™, a built-in safety intelligence score (0 100) that turns daily habits into clear trends, helping institutions stay compliant and proactive.
DATA-DRIVEN SAFETY & EFFICIENCY
User Tracking for Airflow & Sash Height Monitoring
- Real-Time Airflow Monitoring
- Sash Height Tracking
- User Activity Insights
- Energy Efficiency Optimization
Introducing Sash IQ™
Sash IQ™ turns everyday fume hood habits into a clear, single score for total visibility over lab safety and energy performance.
Data that drives better decisions
Sash IQ™ is SmartSash’s built-in safety intelligence engine. Every user receives a personal score from 0 to 100 based on their real-time habits, including proper sash height, timely closure, and long-term consistency. Instead of waiting for an incident to reveal a safety gap, lab managers get instant visibility. The system highlights where safety habits are strong, pinpoints where coaching is needed, and tracks institutional trends over time.
Note Taking
Turn the transparent sash into an active digital workspace. Jot down immediate observations, record chemical mixtures, and log experimental variations directly on the glass screen without stepping away from the hood.
Formula Writing
Work out complex equations and chemistry formulas effortlessly. The digital interface allows you to save, export, or share sketches directly to your connected laboratory files.
Annotating & Marking Up Photos
Capture high-resolution visual data from your experiment and mark up specific details in real time. Highlight critical color changes, structural variances, or anomalies right on the screen image.
Safety Videos
Access an integrated library of mandatory safety protocols directly at the workspace. SmartSash verifies that training content has been reviewed before unlocking hazardous equipment, ensuring a proactive approach to lab risk mitigation.
Lesson Plans
Seamlessly integrate specific educational modules into academic laboratory sessions. Instructors can pre-load required operational steps, ensuring students follow standard operating procedures precisely.
Teaching Aids and Q&A
Features interactive quiz modules and Q&A verification panels directly on the sash display. Test user comprehension on specific chemical hazards, spill protocols, and safety maneuvers before practical tasks begin.
Broadcast Experiments in Real Time, Locally or Remotely
Monitor laboratory processes live through the SmartSash Portal or securely share video with other SmartSash-equipped fume hoods. Whether supporting collaboration across a facility or connecting with remote laboratories, SmartSash makes it easy to view experiments without compromising safety containment.
Fixed Overhead Camera
The integrated overhead camera provides a clear, top-down view of activity inside the fume hood, making it easy to observe reactions, measurements, and procedures without disrupting the experiment.
Workflow Flexibility
Away Mode
Designed for situations where an authenticated user temporarily steps away from the fume hood without ending their active session. The session remains active, and data such as sash position, temperature, humidity, and airflow measurements continues to be recorded under the authenticated user.
User Initiated Away Mode (Button)
The user taps the Away button and receives an onscreen reminder to close the sash before stepping away.
PIR Sensor-Triggered Away Mode
If the presence sensor detects that the user has left the fume hood area for a set period of time, SmartSash enters Away Mode and prompts the user to close the sash. This helps reinforce good laboratory habits and supports stronger Sash IQ™ performance by reducing unnecessary energy loss from open sashes. Note: Presence sensor triggered events are logged for lab managers, making it easy to identify situations where a sash was left open while the user was away.
Privacy Mode
Designed to help protect proprietary, sensitive, or confidential research. When activated, Privacy Mode obscures the workspace and limits onscreen interaction until the authenticated user returns.
- The transparent display turns solid white, concealing application data and the interior workspace from view.
- The internal chamber lights dim to reduce visibility inside the hood.
- To prevent bypass tampering, all on-screen navigation is disabled. The session can only be restored by the original user scanning their verified RFID card.
PRESS
Smarter Access Control for Every Hood
Clearly Future-Proof: SmartSash Makes a Landmark Debut at SLCan 2025
QUEBEC CITY, QC – This past November, the 2025 SLCan Sustainable Laboratory Conference brought together the brightest minds in Canadian lab design,...
Shut The Sash
Fume hoods at UBC consume up to 10 per cent of campus energy due to the large volume of air that needs to be heated or cooled and moved through them. Help save energy and Shut the Sash. Did you know that an open fume hood uses as much energy as 3.5 homes!
Shut the Sash: Behavior awareness program impacts campus sustainability
The University of the Chicago Physical Sciences Division has expanded a program dedicated to addressing energy use reduction throughout all facilities that have chemical fume hoods.
GET IN TOUCH
Transparency for Your Lab Starts Here.
Join the Journey
Join our mailing list to receive updates on software enhancements and sustainability insights