Research institutes, biopharma, and biotech companies are working in the wake of an energy crisis. Volatility in energy costs is the new normal. Biologists have long favored reducing fossil fuel consumption. The question is where to start.

A special thanks to Green Labs Netherlands (Green Labs NL) scientists Hannah Johnson and Benoit Nicolet, Ph.D. for sharing their perspectives!

Which part of the lab has the greatest potential to save energy?

Is it the ULT freezers or incubators? Maybe the fume hood? What about all the lab lighting? Does small benchtop equipment even matter?

The answer to what uses the most energy involves the very air in the room. The upper echelons of the life science sector have known for some time that heating, ventilation, and cooling systems, commonly known as HVAC, represent a massive carbon and cost savings opportunity. Lab spaces do require a minimum number of air exchanges ventilated per hour, pressurization, and temperature for both safety and comfort. Yet more and more life science organizations have discovered that they can meet these demands and save energy.

There are good resources for understanding the issue and the energy-saving systems meant to address it. According to data from the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories I2SL, HVAC systems typically represent 30% of total energy use in commercial buildings, whereas that rate doubles in laboratories to around 60%. Critically, that doubled portion is in the context of lab spaces typically consuming ten times the energy of office spaces, according to S-Lab, a great resource for lab benchmarking and guidance in the U.K. High-tech laboratory solutions include occupant sensors, real-time monitoring, energy recovery, building management systems, and energy management platforms (i.e. WattIQ, Elemental Machines, Hark). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL also has terrific technical resources for HVAC in laboratories if you want to dive deeper into engineering. It’s helpful for biologists to understand these issues because their knowledge of the nature of their own work can facilitate tuning energy demands to the right levels. Here are some basic steps that any lab team or individual scientists can take to reduce the carbon footprint of lab HVAC systems.

Basic HVAC Energy-Saving Steps for Scientists:

1. Consult with environmental health and safety officers on optimizing airflow to the risk level.

2. Keep room exhaust outlets clear

3. Move heat-releasing lab equipment

4. Close blinds when windows overheat workspaces

Energy Conservation From scientists’ Perspectives

When it comes to going green in the lab, plastic and chemical waste streams are often put ahead of electricity use. Energy captured less attention than plastic pollution. The situation has changed. Current events have catapulted the importance of energy conservation. Scientists are cognizant that their energy use is directly linked to fossil fuels, like natural gas, oil, and coal. Energy costs have gone up around the world in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and pandemic-associated supply chain disruptions. The Alliance of Science Organizations in Germany released a statement, Science and Research During the Energy Crisis warning of energy threats to biobanks, large-scale experimental series, and for complex research infrastructure. Scientists who are plugged in understand that optimizing lab energy used to produce their data reduces fossil fuel use.

Hannah Johnson, a research technician in the Rios Group Dream 3D lab at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, and a co-founder of Green Labs Netherlands (Green Labs NL) explained how her institute's green team builds consensus around energy-saving green lab initiatives. Their green team has taken on the challenge, as have others in the Green LabsNL network, by targeting LEAF program criteria for their research department. Awareness of the energy crisis and rising costs helps to bring facility staff, management, and other stakeholders on board with their greening initiatives. Another motivator has been energy data collected and put into context. For example, as happens in any lab, there were concerns about workflow disruption around the idea of turning off water baths used to warm cell culture media. Once energy metering data showed that one water bath used 5 - 6kWatts daily they could multiply that by the large number of water baths used across the research department and show colleagues that general energy consumption of the common lab bench top equipment was far larger than the average 8kWattt used in an average Dutch home. Funding was approved to add timers to automate turn off at 10 pm and on at 5 am and cut the energy usage in nearly half. The energy was conserved and workflows were not disrupted. By extending the initiative to shared equipment in shared lab spaces the impact was far greater than would be with a single lab.

When asked if there was a key concept other scientists should know, Hannah shared,” Scientists working in labs can have direct control over energy use. It’s important to understand that these initiatives not only save energy and reduce carbon footprints today but turning off lab equipment prolongs equipment life spans in the long term, thus reducing the need for replacements. Vendors can help scientists by offering life cycle analyses on equipment to provide clarity on when it’s worthwhile to replace.”

Scientists working in labs can have direct control over energy use. It’s important to understand that these initiatives not only save energy and reduce carbon footprints today but turning off lab equipment prolongs equipment life spans in the long term, thus reducing the need for replacements. Vendors can help scientists by offering life cycle analyses on equipment to provide clarity on when it’s worthwhile to replace.

—Hannah Johnson, Research Technician, Rios Group Dream 3D lab, Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, and a co-founder of Green Labs NL

Benoit Nicolet, Ph.D., is devoted to advancing science and understands how energy use establishes carbon footprints. Benoit is a postdoctoral data scientist in the research lab of Ton Schumacher at The Netherlands Cancer Institute. He is highly focused on applying machine learning to explore gene expression data for cancer recognition by immune cells. With his passion for protecting our environment, he co-founded the Green Labs NL network and Sustainable European Laboratories(SELs) and co-authored the study Re-use of labware reduces CO2 equivalent footprint and running costs in laboratories. Currently, he contributes to local lab initiatives, especially sustainability research projects.

I asked him why biologists should be concerned with lab energy consumption and what was happening in European sustainability-minded labs. Benoit shared, “Energy is expensive, especially in the last year, which increases bench fees. This diverts money away from research. Quite a few scientists are feeling uncomfortable with their professional energy usage because of its outsized impact on our environment. Most labs are trying to reduce consumption by switching to LED lighting, setting timers on lab equipment, and trying to set ultra-freezers to slightly warmer settings. Yet the most one lab can do is follow a framework like LEAF from UCL to guide them into all the small changes with the maximum impact. Joining networks increases motivation and especially helps in refining what are the most impactful steps to reduce a lab’s footprint.”

Saving energy protects the environment and scientific progress

The energy crisis is impacting life science in the Netherlands, Europe, the U.S., and globally. Fortunately, there are networks and technical resources to help biologists take direct action to reduce the impact of fossil fuels. It behooves science, human health and the natural world to make improvements to laboratory work.

Read More About Sustainable Laboratory Work…

• Looking to save energy fast? Use the UC Davis Fume Hood Ventilation Stickers.

• Learn more about Green Lab Netherlands

• Take part in the LEAF program