Green Laboratories at Harvard

Laboratories are responsible for disproportionately high energy consumption, often consuming 2-3 times the energy use per square foot as compared to office buildings. lab hsphThe main reasons for such high energy use include high ventilation requirements for occupant safety, longer operating hours (sometimes 24/7), and energy intensive equipment needs such as fume hoods, autoclaves, & clean rooms.

At Harvard, the 30 or so lab buildings make up 17% of total square footage but are responsible for over 40% of the university’s energy consumption, and are significant sources of solid waste, hazardous waste, and water usage.

Addressing the energy and resource use of lab buildings is key to implementing the Harvard Univesrity Campus Sustainability Principles, and there are many activities underway to address these issues, such as:

 

Green Lab Equipment Purchasing Program:
Partnering with VWR, the Harvard Preferred Vendor, Harvard is reearching environmentally preferable lab equipimetn and supplies and highlighting these products in the VWR Best Buy Guide and on the Green Campus Initiative website,

Facility Infrastructure Best Practices at Harvard
The Operations Departments at FAS, HMS, HSPH, and HSDM have invested significant resources in upgrading existing laboratory builidings to conserve resources, and this information is compied into a Best Practices list.

Green Buildings
The first two buildings on the new Allston campus will be large laboratory facilties, both of which have been designed with energy and resource conservation in mind.