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Developing a Green Labs Program

Developing a Green Labs Program. Environmental Health & Safety. Alicia Murchie. Michael Ochs. Outline. What is a Green Lab Program Program Development Collaboration and Partnerships Challenges Marketing & Promoting. Labs for the 21 st century.

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Developing a Green Labs Program

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  1. Developing a Green Labs Program Environmental Health & Safety Alicia Murchie Michael Ochs

  2. Outline • What is a Green Lab Program • Program Development • Collaboration and Partnerships • Challenges • Marketing & Promoting

  3. Labs for the 21st century At Harvard, labs account for less than 25% of square footage and over half of energy use. Laboratories in the U.S. are energy-intensive facilities that use anywhere from 30 to 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 75,000 to 800,000 Btu of natural gas per square foot annually. Why Green Labs?

  4. What is a Green Labs Program? • Two aspects: Infrastructure and Occupant Engagement • A Green Labs Program promotes integration of sustainability practices and resource conservation within lab activities. • Stand alone lab program or part of a larger sustainability commitment? Harvard’s Sustainability Commitments

  5. Staff& Time Budget • Development of existing programs? • Part time employee to several Full-Time • Primary or alternate assignments • Position creation • Possible Solutions: • Time Management and Delegation • Recruiting Help • Student Workers • Volunteers • Self Assessments • How much money do I need? • Beginning with minimal budgets • Staff, Office supplies, Marketing materials, Website • Possible Solutions: • Student Volunteers, Organizations, Staff volunteers • Partnerships with internal depts. and outside vendors

  6. Making a Business Case • Reduction in resources typically = reduction in costs • Use existing case studies and resources for your specific project. • Rely on hard data, but don’t forget the less measurable impacts: productivity, happiness… • Start small, what can you do with your current resources? • Measure results before, during and after • Get feedback and maintain an open dialogue

  7. Who has a program?

  8. Research, Research, Research! Time Crunch Lack of resources/infrastructure Varied Backgrounds High turn-over Limited and variable training Data-driven Oft- misunderstood Understanding your audience…

  9. Understanding your audience, part II.. Establish credibility and foster trust • Create rapport by demonstrating understanding and respect for researchers’ constraints and concerns. • Use data to your advantage- do your homework! • Collect feedback beforehand, listen carefully & address concerns. • Track changes and continuously monitor results

  10. Understanding your audience, part II.. Make it easy to do the right thing • Clearly define policies and expectations, integrate into trainings • Provide ample support and infrastructure that requires little input from researchers. • Allow flexibility; consider specific needs of different labs. • Keep it simple, start with success

  11. Group Activity • If you were developing a green labs program on your campus what are the top three activities that you think would get the most participation from your lab personnel? • If you already have a program, what are the top three activities your campus does well regarding sustainability in labs?

  12. Program DevelopmentI want to develop a program…now what? • Scope of program • Webinar • Reach out to your peers (other universities) • Survey the participants • Examples of questions

  13. Areas of most interest Convenient locations for recycling and programs in the labs. Printing on double sided paper.

  14. Areas of least interest Occupancy sensors on room lighting. Replace mercury filled thermometers with alternatives.

  15. You may find amusing results…

  16. Do you use water for cooling, vacuum aspirators, or any continuous flow process?

  17. Do you think there are opportunities for conserving water in your lab?

  18. What is probably the most important item to get people to participate in your program? Make it easy for people to participate!

  19. I want to develop a program…now what? • Who will develop and manage the program? • Sustainability Office or another dept. • What will the lab staff need to do? • Certification criteria • Use your survey results • Self-assessment vs. Green Program Assessors • Checklist and Application

  20. Can your Safety Department help? Who is the Safety Dept.? How does lab safety (i.e. chemical, biosafety, fire) contribute to the program? Design conservation efforts and maintain employee safety. Lab Registration

  21. Lab Safety Registration

  22. Collaboration • Internal • External • Collective Impacts

  23. Internally: Build Relationships!

  24. Safety Dept. Collaboration • Your biggest asset! • Useful for interacting with labs • Network of employees • Know what’s going on, who is where and doing what • Safety Trainings • Inspections

  25. External • Universities with programs • Other Organizations (Green labs group on Google) • Government (Labs21, DOE) • Utilities (energy rebates) • Vendors • Leveraging our collective resources • Lab equipment wiki & energy data • Unified voice for big-picture goals

  26. Common Barriers (lab specific) • Hazardous materials & processes • Long, sometimes erratic operating hours • Equipment is too specialized • Researchers difficult to approach • Labs don’t care about anything but research • Lack of time • Lack of awareness of consumption • Labs not responsible for energy, trash, water

  27. Group Exercise: ID Barriers 1. Identify barriers you’ve encountered or expect to in your lab program • What has prevented you from working with labs up until this point? • What barriers have you encountered or do you anticipate encountering? 2. Take a few minutes to write down your individual top 3, then we’ll get into groups.

  28. Marketing and Promotion Get attention on your campus with lab staff? • Orientations, Symposiums, Lab Meetings • Training • Post Doc Students (add to CV), • Performance Metrics • Food, shirts, lab coats Groups willing to help… Green Team, Committees, Internal Sustainablity Network, Compliance Officers, Student Clubs

  29. Branding

  30. Branding

  31. Marketing and Promotion Materials • Videos • Website – simplified web url • Newsletters and Events • Business cards

  32. Resources • green-labs-planning@googlegroups.com • 110 members • University websites • Harvard • Arizona State University • UC Davis • UC Santa Barbara • Michigan • Duke • Labs21 website and conference • S-Labs (UK) • AASHE (Assoc. Advancement of Sustainablity in Higher Ed.) • ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers)

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