Resources for Green Labs at Harvard

High performance labs have received a great deal of international attention in the past several years. Many innovative technologies, design and benchmarking tools, and educational opportunities exist to support the "green labs" effort. Below, we highlight some of the ones with which we're most familiar. We welcome your suggestions of other resources to include.

Research Paper

The Case for Sustainable Laboratories: First Steps at Harvard University. By Jessica Woolliams, Matthew Lloyd, and John Spengler.

This paper adds to a growing dialogue about how to make laboratory design, maintenance and operations more sustainable, sharing insights and lessons learned from Harvard University. The paper includes results of a Harvard survey that highlights the confusion among laboratory architects, engineers and facilities managers surrounding the applications and interpretations of current lab guidelines, codes and standards, especially when addressing sustainable performance. The findings suggest that confusion has financial, environmental, and human health consequences, and that more research is needed to define the operational risks to laboratory workers. Findings also indicate that many energy efficient technologies and strategies are not routinely specified in lab design, and this may be in part due to confusion concerning the guidelines, standards and codes.

List of LEED Certified and Registered Lab Projects

This list includes lab construction and renovation projects from around the country that have been either LEED certified, or are registered with the intent of becoming certified upon completion of the project. The list was last compiled by the Harvard Green Campus Initiative in Sept 05, and will be updated again soon.

Labs for the 21st Century Program

Labs21 is a federal program sponsored in part by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency. Its aim is to improve environmental performance in laboratories by offering training, educational materials, an annual conference, and many partnerships.

Labs21 Environmental Performance Criteria (EPC)

According to Labs21, the EPC “is a rating system specifically designed for laboratory facilities. It builds on the LEED® Green Building Rating System that was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The EPC was produced by a series of working groups that included more than 40 architects, engineers, facility managers, and health and safety professionals.” The EPC is available online and as a PDF.

Labs21 Best Practices

The Labs21 Best Practice guides, written by experts in the field, provide information and case studies on a variety of technologies related to energy efficiency and sustainability in labs. Currently the guides cover the following topics:

• Decreasing reheat energy use
• Right-sizing
• Modeling exhaust dispersion
• Water efficiency
• Low pressure drop HVAC design
• Daylighting
• Energy recovery for ventilation air
• On-site power systems
• Guidelines using ASHRAE 90.1 – Version 1.0

Labs21 also seeks writers to cover new topics such as optimal ventilation, combining heat and power, fume hoods, and ventilation air controls. Applications for prospective writers are available at the website.

The guides are available to download at no cost.
.

Design Guide for Energy Efficient Laboratories
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Design Guide for Energy Efficient Laboratories version 4.0- is intended to assist facility owners, architects, engineers, designers, facility managers, and utility demand-side management specialists in identifying and applying advanced energy-efficiency features in laboratory-type environments.

 

U.S. Green Building Council

The USGBC is a coalition of building industry professionals dedicated to promoting buildings that are environmentally sustainable, cost-effective, and healthy for occupants. Its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is perhaps its most prominent program, and a LEED Rating System for laboratories is in development. The USGBC offers many educational materials, workshops (live and online), and other resources as well.