Developing a Green Labs Program
Environmental Health & Safety
Michael Ochs
Alicia Murchie
Outline
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What is a Green Lab Program
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Program Development
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Collaboration and Partnerships
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Challenges
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Marketing & Promoting
Why Green Labs?
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.
•
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Labs for the 21st century
What is a Green Labs Program?
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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
Sustainability
Principles
Green Building
Standards
Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Goal
• Reducing the
environmental footprint
of campus operations
• Healthier Labs, Offices
and Classrooms
• 30% Below 2006 Baseline
By 2016, Including
Growth
Staff & Time
Development of existing programs?
Part time employee to several
Full-Time
Primary or alternate
assignments
Position creation
Budget
How much money do I need?
Beginning with minimal budgets
Staff, Office supplies, Marketing
materials, Website
Possible Solutions:
Possible Solutions:
Time Management and
Delegation
Recruiting Help
Student Workers
Volunteers
Self Assessments
Student Volunteers,
Organizations, Staff volunteers
Partnerships with internal depts.
and outside vendors
Making a Business Case
•
Reduction in resources typically = reduction in costs
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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?
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Measure results before, during and after
•
Get feedback and maintain an open dialogue
Who has a program?
Understanding your audience…
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Research, Research, Research!
•
Time Crunch
•
Lack of resources/infrastructure
•
Varied Backgrounds
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High turn-over
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Limited and variable training
•
Data-driven
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Oft- misunderstood
Understanding your audience, part II..
Establish credibility and foster trust
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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
Understanding your audience, part II..
Make it easy to do the right thing
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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
Group Activity
1.
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?
2.
If you already have a program, what are
the top three activities your campus does
well regarding sustainability in labs?
Program Development
I want to develop a program…now what?
• Scope of program
• Webinar
• Reach out to your peers (other universities)
• Survey the participants
• Examples of questions
Areas of most interest
Convenient locations for
recycling and programs in the
labs.
Printing on double sided paper.
Areas of least interest
Occupancy sensors on room
lighting.
Replace mercury filled
thermometers with alternatives.
You may find amusing results…
Do you use water for cooling, vacuum
aspirators, or any continuous flow
process?
Do you think there are opportunities for
conserving water in your lab?
What is probably the most important item
to get people to participate in your
program?
Make it easy for people to participate!
I want to develop a program…now what?
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Who will develop and manage the program?
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Sustainability Office or another dept.
What will the lab staff need to do?
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Certification criteria
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Use your survey results
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Self-assessment vs. Green Program Assessors
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Checklist and Application
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
Lab Safety
Registration
Collaboration
Internal
 External
 Collective Impacts
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Internally: Build
Relationships!
Schools
Faculty
Staff
President,
Provost &
EVP
Students
Office for
Sustainability
Capital
Planning &
Project
Mgmt
“A Catalyst
for Change”
Allston
HPAC
• Over 6,000 Undergraduates
• Over 13,000 Graduate Students
HUIT
Human
Resources
Finance
Students
Student
Clubs/Orgs
Campus
Services
Staff
• Over 14,000 Harvard
Employees
Faculty
•
Over 2,400 Faculty Members
at 12 Schools
Safety Dept. Collaboration
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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
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
Common Barriers (lab specific)
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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
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.
Marketing and Promotion
Get attention on your campus with lab staff?
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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
Branding
Branding
Marketing and Promotion
Materials
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Videos
Website – simplified web url
Newsletters and Events
Business cards
Resources

green-labs-planning@googlegroups.com
◦ 110 members
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University websites
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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 AirConditioning Engineers)