The average chemistry research student uses 2500 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month. This is a typical breakdown.
Switch It Off
Switch off any equipment when not in use. Equipment with a heating or cooling function have some of the greatest energy demand.
Green Your Lab Case Study:
We used a cheap $10 energy outlet tracker to understand the energy use and savings:
Oven was Never switched off = 80 kWh/ week
Switch it off nights &WE Save 66 kWh/week
Save 40kg CO2e/week = 1.4 tonnes/year!!!
Outlet Timers
Using outlet timers can save 66% of energy. These timers are fairly cheap (~$20 USD). They go between the equipment plug and the outlet and allow you to set the on and off time for that piece of equipment. Equipment can be set to turn on at the beginning of the work day and turn off after everyone goes home. Choose a timer with a weekday/weekend separation to keep the equipment off over the weekend.
Timers can be overridden by manual adjustment, so researchers working over the weekends are not stuck. Just remember to reset it after the settings were overridden.
Colour Code
Identify equipment which can be switched off after use, at the end of the day, or cannot be switched off. Once this is done, use stickers of different colours to easily indicate if or when this piece of equipment should be switched off. For example:
- Green: Turn off right after use
- Orange: Turn off at the end of the day
- Red : Never turn off
Here’s an example from La Trobe University:
Simply putting up “switch it off” signs and asking colleagues to participate can reduce energy consumption by 50%. See this Harvard case study.
Rota
Set up a system where either there’s a rota or a system where the “last person out” surveys the lab for any equipment that is still on and turns them off.
To avoid any errors, “Work in Progress” signs are an effective way to let the designated person know that you are still working today and to keep certain pieces of equipment on for you.
Have an “end-of-day” checklist for that “last person out”.
Include actions like:
- Turning off all appropriate equipment
- Checking fridges and freezers shut properly
- Check Fume hood and biocabinents have their sashes down, set to low-flow or off
- Turn off the lights
- Lock doors
Consider Smaller versions
Consider your needs and determine the smallest equipment size necessary. For example, if you are doing only small experiments, but a smaller incubator.
You can also consider having two incubators. One large and one small and use the appropriate sized one according to your needs. Of course, turn the other one off when not in use. Do be aware there there is a carbon footprint of equipment production, so you would need to calculate carefully to understand if having two of the same equipment really lowers the overall footprint. Better use, would be to combine experiments with other labs and only have one incubator.
Time the Warmup
Sometimes scientists don’t know how long a piece of equipment takes to warm up. Make the measurement and post it on at piece of equipment. The times might be shorter than you assume and this knolwedge can encourage scientists to only turn on these pieces of equipment when they need to use them rather than all the time. If it only takes 5 mins to warm up the heatblock, there’s no need to have it on all the time, or to automatically turn on in the morning.
Also, it’s not always necessary to pre-heat. If you are growing bacteria in an incubator and not assessing the growth curve, it’s perfectly fine to put your flasks and plates in the cold incubator and then turn it on. It takes a little longer for your cells to grow, but your cells can benefit while the incubator heats up.
Computers
Similar to all other lab equipment, turn off the computers at night.
Use any power-saving modes available
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On Windows 7, go to Control Panel → System and Security → Power Options, and choose Energy Saver
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On Mac, see here for a list of suggestions from Apple on how to save energy.
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Set for your computer to go to sleep when not touched after a certain time frame. Your computer can be very quickly woken up when you need to use it again.
Don’t use screen savers. They do not save much energy because they generally keep the CPU operating.
Other tips include:
- Dim the display to the lowest acceptable level
- Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth if you don’t need them (for example, if the lab computer is just used for plotting from an instrument).
- Disconnect devices and close apps, such as external hard drives and USB keys. Apps can use energy when they’re in the background.
- Select other energy-saving options; for example, if you allow other computers to access the shared resources (printers etc.) on a Mac while it’s sleeping, you might find you need to wake the computer less often.
When buying a new computer, be sure to look at the energy efficiency of the processor (for example, some reports say that ARM processors deliver greater more performance per watt) and expandability (can you upgrade the computer, or is its lifetime limited?)
This section is focused on computers in the lab. Find more information about ways to be more sustainable when using computers in the office.
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