best practices in laboratoriesfrom the dual perspectives of

research and sustainability

best practices: laboratory equipment

fume hoods

ultra-low freezers

lasers

microscopes

large centrifuges

heating blocks

tissue culture hoods

autoclaves

deionized, distilled, and ultrapure water

plastics

gloves

animal bedding

best practices: laboratory consumables

a brief conceptualization of energy consumption

30 kWh/day

fume hoods

wikipedia.com

fume hoods

greenfumehood.com

fume hoods

classification

velocity of airflow through the hood

uses of the hood

ducted v ductless

fume hoods: how it works

ehs.ufl.edu

fume hoods: how it works

web.princeton.edu

fume hoods: constant air volume (CAV)

exhaust flowrate or quantity of air pulled through the hood is constant

oregonstate.edu

fume hoods: variable air volume (VAV)

exhaust flowrate or quantity of air pulled through the hood varies

southwestsolutions.com

fume hoods

energy consumption

3x typical household-Lawrence Berkeley Labs

‘be good in the hood’

‘be good in the hood’

ALWAYS close the sash

thermoscientific.com

safest position.

‘be good in the hood’

do not store unnecessary items in the hood

‘be good in the hood’

being good in the fume hood not only ensures your safetybut it also saves energy

tissue culture hoods

med.cam.ac.uk newvoiceforresearch.blogspot.com

tissue culture hoods: how they work

ars.usda.gov

tissue culture hoods

energy consumption

1 – 12.6 kWh/day depending on usage-manufacturer data

0.3 – 0.6 kWh/day per UV lamp-manufacturer data

‘be good in the hood’

‘be good in the hood’

turn hood COMPLETELY off

thelabworldgroup.com

prevents UV damage toreagents and staff

‘be good in the hood’

being good in the tc hood not only ensures your safetyand prevents unnecessary UV damage to hood contents

but it also saves energy

ultra-low freezers

ultra-low freezers: -80

energy consumption

15 – 20 kWh/day-manufacturer data

-validated by monitoring

‘-70 is the new -80’

‘-70 is the new -80’

chill up freezers from -80 to -70

save 2-4kW per day

DOE

‘-70 is the new -80’

clean freezer coils, regularly defrost freezer

save 12-25% energy

other best practices for ultra-low freezers

prolong lifetime of the freezer

perform scheduled maintenance on freezers

other best practices for ultra-low freezers

prolong lifetime of the freezer

remove old, unneeded samples

other best practices for ultra-low freezers

fewer samples stored, fewer freezers are needed

transfer samples to other storage paradigms

-20 freezers

ambient temperature storage containers

other best practices for ultra-low freezers

fewer samples stored, fewer freezers are needed

lasers

laserfest.org

lasers: types

gas lasers

solid state

lasers: gas

energy consumption

15 – 120 kWh/day-manufacturer data

exchange gas lasers for solid state lasers

could save a minimum of 50% energy-manufacturer data

best practices for lasers

solid state lasers last longer, lower maintenance costs

prolongs lifetime of the laser

saves energy

best practices for lasers

turn off (gas) lasers when not in use, especially over the weekend

microscopes

mercury-free microscopy

mercury/metal halide bulbs

mercury-free microscopy

mercury/metal halide bulbs

5000 hours/mg Hg 2.5 hours/mg Hg

1 bulb2000 bulbs

mercury-free microscopy

mercury-free microscopy

recycle used mercury and metal halide bulbs

energy consumption

illumination: 0.12 – 6 kWh/day-monitored by My Green Lab

other best practices for microscopy

exchange mercury/metal halide for solid state light sources

savings 25 – 90%-monitored by My Green Lab

other best practices for microscopy

less toxic, cost less to own, in many cases are better for samples

cost of ownership of microscope illumination sourcesMERCURY ARC METAL HALIDE SOLID STATE

Replacement bulbs 150 15 n/a

Total Bulb Costs $22,500 $10,500 $0

Total Liquid Light Guide Costs

n/a $5,250 $0

LED comparison with metal halide: stability

LED comparison with metal halide: ‘brightness’

mh_dapi ss_dapi mh_gfp ss_gfp mh_y5 ss_y50

50

100

150

200

250

metal halide (300hrs) v. sold state

LED comparison with metal halide: energy consumption

other best practices for microscopy

turn off microscope equipment when not in use

prolongs lifetime of the equipment

saves energy

large centrifuges

djblabcare.co.uk

large centrifuges

energy consumption

0.7 – 6 kWh/day-manufacturer data

store rotors at 4C

energy savings minimum 10%

best practices for large centrifuges

saves time

turn centrifuge off after use

savings minimum 10%

best practices for large centrifuges

prolongs lifetime

heating blocks

phenixresearch.com

heating blocks

energy consumption

0.5 – 12 kWh/day-S-labs

best practices for heating blocks

turn them off when not in use

energy savings minimum 10%

prolongs lifetime

improves safety

autoclaves

oh.water.usgs.gov

lightlabsusa.com

autoclaves: types

stand-alone

bench-top

autoclaves

water consumption

90 gallons hot water per cycle

22 gallons cold water for effluent cooling-UCSB

autoclaves

University of Edinburgh

autoclaves accounted for41% of the total energy

usage on campus

energy consumption

combine loads

use a smaller, research –grade autoclave

best practices for autoclaves

keep autoclave in ‘standby’ rather than ‘on’

water

tap water

distilled water

deionized water

ultrapure water

water

tap water

distilled water

deionized water

ultrapure water

purified

distilled water (ddH2O)

www.stuart-equipment.com

energy and water intense

deionized water (DI)

pre-treatment

reverse osmosis

polishing (deionization)

UV sterilization, final filtration

usually stored

50% efficient

ultrapure water:Millipore (MilliQ)

goes through a filter

35-50% efficient, larger systems more efficient-UCSB

only use what is necessary – keep in mind that what you use is just a fraction of the total water being used

recycle filter cartridges through Millipore

best practices for water consumption

consumables

plastics

plastics

caissonlabs.com labnetinternational.com

plasticswaste stream

est 12% is recycled

every year est 1100 square miles of plastic leave labs-Mt. Baker Bio

recycle plastics that can be recycled

best practices for plastics

utilize vendor recycling programs

use biodegradable plastics

use only what is needed

VWR: TerraCycle for all pipet tip boxes

vendor recycling programs

Genessee Scientific: pipet tip boxes only from GS

Mt. Baker Bio: pipet tip boxes, reagent bottles

gloves

wikipedia.org

gloveswaste stream

1000s of pounds – not well documented

reuse gloves when possible

best practices for gloves

glove recycling program through Kimberly-Clark

animal bedding

drsforstersmith.competcity.com.au

animal beddingwaste stream

usually sent to a landfill

Emory University produces 22 tons/month

compost

best practices for animal bedding

“bedder” animal bedding