Lab Sustainability Best Practices

Autoclaves

Autoclaves are large energy and water consumers (60-90 gallons of water per load). Be sure to run your autoclave or dishwasher only when the unit is full. You can also consider right-sizing your unit to fit the needs of your lab space better. Large steam-jacketed autoclaves use much more energy and water than a front-loading non-steam-jacketed autoclave.

Ultra Low Temperature Freezers

• Perform regular freezer maintenance:

• • Clean the air filter to remove dust and grime.
  • De-ice the freezer: Scrape ice from around the door and rubber gasket and perform a total thaw of the unit.

• Keep freezers 8 inches away from the wall and 5 inches away from each other, and do not store items on top of them.
• Keep a paper or digital inventory of your samples to ensure you always know where your samples are and how many you have. Use rack, box, and sample labels to stay organized.
• Increase the temperature of your ULT freezer. -70° C has been proven safe for most if not all samples. Increasing the temperature of your freezer can save electricity and also prolong the life of your compressor.
• Ensure you have a comprehensive backup plan should your freezer fail. If you can keep a backup freezer, set it to -40°C to -60°C. You can also check with your department to see if they can loan a backup freezer.

"Shut the Sash"

An open fume hood sash can use as much energy in a day as 3 to 4 homes!  Keep yourself safe, avoid chemical exposure, and help reduce campus energy use by shutting your sash.

Standard maximum operating height of sashes is ~18 inches from the base of the fume hood — or where the mechanical stop is located (if one is present). Sashes should be opened beyond 18 inches only to set up or modify an experiment.  The sash should be shut whenever a user is not actively working in the fume hood to increase safety and energy savings.  While some hoods in Pitt laboratories have audible alarms that remind users to shut the sash, users should remind themselves to shut the sash every time they walk away from the hood.

What is the “Shut Your Sash” campaign and why is it important?

The campaign seeks to educate and inform users about best practices for fume hood operation and use with a focus on reducing energy consumption.

Fume hoods can be among the most energy consuming pieces of equipment found in a typical laboratory. Because such a large volume of air is exhausted from lab spaces to the outside, a single fume hood can use as much energy as three to four residential homes in a single day. Because the exhausted air must be replaced with fresh air, energy expended both due to the operation of the fume hood’s ventilation fan and motor, but also in heating or cooling the fresh air.  Proper operation of a hood’s sash has the potential to halve fume hood energy usage.

Moreover, shutting the sash protects the direct user’s health along with the health and safety of others nearby. In general, sashes help protect users from splashes, fires, and explosions.

Equipment Plug Load

• Turn off equipment when not in use.
• Use outlet timers to automatically power on and off equipment.
• Share equipment with other labs or core facilities rather than purchasing and powering your own.
• Turn off screen savers and use energy saver modes such as sleep or standby on computers and large equipment.
• Replace energy-intensive equipment with more energy-efficient models.

Biosafety Cabinets

Biosafety Cabinets (BSCs) can consume somewhere around 11 to 15kWh per day[1], depending on usage, manufacturer, type and size.  If you are using a UV light in your BSC, you could be using an additional 0.5 kWh per day[2].  The average home in the US consumes around 33kWh per day [3] and in Europe the average home consumes about 10kWh per day[4].  So your BSC’s could be consuming somewhere between 1/3 to a full house worth of energy each day

• Turn off when not in use - If you have an unducted BSC (typically a Class 1, Class 2 Type A1 or A2), or one that is not connected to the laboratory exhaust ducts that expel air into the atmosphere, you can generally shut these down when they are not in use. Please first check with your building administrator to ensure your BSCs are not ducted and part of the laboratory air balance.)  To begin using your BSC again, turn it on for 5 minutes and then wipe down surfaces with the appropriate disinfectant [5]. 
• Close the sash when not working in the cabinet – If you have a ducted BSC (typically Class 2 Type B1 or B2 or Class 3) these operate very much like a chemical fume hood.  Filtered air is moved through the cabinet and exhausted to the atmosphere through the building exhaust system.  These types of cabinets are typically part of the air balance in the room and cannot be turned off.  If the sash is left open when not in use, conditioned air is constantly being pulled from the room and exhausted through the roof.  Considerable energy is needed to generate this conditioned air with the correct temperature and humidity for the lab. So leaving the sash open exhausts excess air and increases energy consumption through the air handling system. 
• UV lights are not recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Share Equipment

Sharing equipment is a great opportunity to save energy, water, money, and space. Use MSU's core facilities or consider sharing equipment with nearby lab spaces — especially if equipment is rarely used!

Chemical Sustainability

If you need a small amount of a chemical, contact Cody Ragan cody.ragan1@montana.edu and he may be able to find a lab on campus that already has the chemical.

Contact Safety and Risk Management for chemical disposal and recycling. srm@montana.edu