Environmental control
The environmental controls of a starship, space station, or even a colony were used to regulate atmospheric conditions including, but not limited to, the concentration of varying gases, lighting, temperature, humidity, and gravity.

Environmental controls were often used to deploy certain chemicals ship-wide or station-wide. This was done for both benign purposes, such as the release of a retrovirus to cure a ship-wide epidemic, (; ) or for more aggressive purposes such as the release of a general anesthetic. (; ; ; ; )

Types 

Aboard Federation starships and space stations, it was typical for there to be limited access to environmental control within crew quarters in order to meet the varied living requirements of these multi-species structures.

In the 2250s, aboard  starships like the , environmental details were displayed on the outside door controls to crew quarters. Spock's quarters were set to 14% CO2, 92% pressure, 22 °C. ()

Typically, environmental controls for humidity were set to 37 percent in standard conditions on Federation starships. ()

On a larger scale, environmental controls could be integrated into a Weather Modification Net or weather control system in order to regulate or moderate global weather. (; ; )

Because Cardassians preferred relatively warm locations, their environmental controls were usually set very high. ()  

The environmental controls of Varro starships were completely regenerative, eliminating all waste. ()

On board Federation starships the environmental controls were housed in Jefferies tube 17 Section 4. ()

History 
When Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge left the  to make repairs on Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix in April of 2063, he named Lieutenant Paul Porter as being in command during his absence. He also ordered Porter to check the environmental controls, as it was warm in engineering. ()

Aboard an  starship, the environmental controls could be operated from a dedicated console in the situation room. As part of a plan for Starfleet to retake the NX-class  from a Triannon takeover in 2153, the vessel's environmental controls were temporarily rerouted in order to spread a gaseous chemical agent throughout the craft, neutralizing organic explosives inside the Triannons' bodies. ()

In 2268, the M-5 multitronic unit initiated  shutdowns on decks 4 and 5 of the , deactivating lights and environmental controls in those areas. ()

The Starfleet crew of space station Deep Space 9 often had problems with the environmental controls soon after they took control of the station. ()  

In 2369, Constable Odo contacted ops and asked if the environmental controls had broken down because it was snowing on the Promenade. ()

In 2370, Miles O'Brien added a new subroutine to the environmental control for the habitat ring. ()

An operative of the True Way attempted to assassinate Shakaar Edon in 2372 by attempting to sabotage the environmental controls. ()

The environmental control log was among those of the 's logs that Neelix checked to determine if there were any anomalous deletions. ()

In 2373, an attack by the Tak Tak disabled the secondary power couplings on the USS Voyager, preventing Captain Kathryn Janeway from accessing environmental controls to distribute an antigen to the macrovirus. ()

In 2374, a group of Romulans hijacked the  USS Prometheus and killed all the crew. The Doctor sent the EMH Mark II to Jefferies tube 17 where the environmental controls were located to release neurozine gas into the air system so they could retake the bridge. The EMH Mark II had never accessed a Jefferies tube and The Doctor told him that, traditionally, such a Jefferies tube was accessed head first. (VOY: "Message in a Bottle")

In 2374, in an alternate timeline known as the Year of Hell, an attack on the USS Voyager by a Krenim warship caused the environmental controls to go down on decks 7 and 8. ()

See also
Atmospheric stabilization
Atmospheric system
Life support system

External link

Life support technology
Spacecraft sections