Green Labs
While our campus continues to grow, we observed that our research interest continues to grow as well. With this in mind, a Green Labs program was implemented to positively reinforce energy conservation through physical and behavioral changes.
A typical laboratory uses much more energy than a normal classroom due to high consumption equipment that needs to run continuously. Our office is working to decrease the energy needed in this space!
We hope that with the start of a few programs, the level of interest will increase are more students and professors realize how important small laboratory changes are. Ultimately we would like to implement a full Green Labs program that includes a self-assessment about the green practices of their lab, then another assessment a few months later. The goal is to encourage professors to make physical or behavioral sustainable changes, even if they are small. Click here for more information on the Green Lab Certification.
Using our Energy Information System, SkySpark, we can closely monitor newer laboratories in the EIS building. We can track individual fume hood data such as the sash height, fumehood velocity, and more. In the future, we plan to have laboratories compete on lab efficiency.
From here, we can calculate energy and cost savings in buildings in which we implement lab programs!
At the end of 2018, our office installed “Shut the Sash” stickers next to each fume hood on campus. This was something that other UC schools had successfully done and seen positive results.
During this project, we were fortunate enough to run into professors who shared an interest in making labs more sustainable and opened our eyes to more efficient projects. Thank you, Dr. Roach for being interested in advancing sustainability in laboratories and showing us many other areas to improve upon.
Since we are able to closely monitor one of the newer buildings on campus, EIS, we roughly estimated that we saved around $8,000 a year since the fume hoods stickers have been installed. This is based on an average fume hood sash position and velocity for the building and is very variable to change based on research needs.
Current Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) Freezers are set to -80C and use around 15 kWh - 35 kWh per day depending on the size, which equates to as much energy as a single-family home per year.
We are looking to replace these older models with newer efficient models that use less than 10 kWh per day.
Our mission is to replace all old ULT Freezers with new energy-efficient models by offering an incentivizing rebate program for professors wanting to make the switch.
As we move forward we may explore the following:
- Low flow aerators
- Glove Recycling
- Zebrafish room
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Shut the sash of the Fume hood whenever you are not using it
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Change computers to power save mode
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Be cautious of water use when cleaning glassware
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Talk to your professor about joining the Green Labs program
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Tell your friends!
- Email [email protected] to get involved!
- Change computers to power save mode
- Upgrade old equipment with Energy Star equipment