Successful sustainable labs: a Student Sustainability Architect blog
Ashley Victoria is a Student Sustainability Architect working on a project to support sustainability in laboratories at the University of Leeds. Her role included supporting promotion of the Sustainable Labs programme through a series of workshops in early 2024. In this blog post she shares her reflections on the roadshows came about and some of the work she is supporting in her role.
We kicked off the new year with a mission to get people talking about lab sustainability, and we did this through the launch of our Sustainable Labs Roadshows. The roadshows were delivered as part of a student and staff engagement drive to increase awareness of the our Sustainable Labs program, promote the Sustainable Labs Resource Hub SharePoint, and encourage more labs across campus to sign up to the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) and gain accreditation.
We set up camp at five locations across campus between 16 - 29 January, giving staff and students the opportunity to meet the Sustainable Labs team to find out how they could reduce their environmental impact, encourage collaboration in their lab spaces, access funding opportunities and gain accreditation for their hard work. The roadshows gave us the chance to directly engage with a whopping 76 laboratory-based colleagues, resulting in some fruitful discussions on the barriers faced in different labs, which can vary tremendously from one lab to another. It was inspiring to meet so many passionate people invested in taking action, from reducing plastic waste, monitoring energy use, to responsible water consumption, and much more.
No event is complete without a few freebies, so we took the opportunity to showcase our new bookmarks which provided information about LEAF, the Resource Hub, as well as a few tips to get started. In addition, there were prizes to be won through our Sustainable Labs trivia quiz, and we also had cake!
The roadshows were a huge success, resulting in a 171% increase in unique viewers to the Sustainable Labs Resource Hub compared to the previous 30 days, and a 210% increase in site visits. We had six new lab spaces sign up for LEAF almost immediately following the roadshows, and we’ve been super busy auditing labs submitting their applications for LEAF accreditation.
Sustainability in labs
Lab spaces use between 3-10 times more energy than other campus spaces, as well as requiring a range of resources and materials. This means they make a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and waste. No two labs are the same, however, and so it’s important to recognise the various challenges faced by different labs and offer the most tailored guidance to support the high impact research conducted at the University. There are a range of simple actions that lab users can do to significantly reduce resource and energy use such as changing freezer settings, switching to reusable lab consumables and turning equipment off when not being used. As well as being better for the environment, this can also offer cost savings for labs.
Our Sustainable Labs Programme
The Sustainable Labs programme supports our labs community in improving sustainability in labs and is being expanded as part of the University’s Climate Plan and target to deliver net zero emissions by 2030. The team manage a SharePoint Sustainable Labs Resource Hub, an online Teams community, and host regular meetings to share knowledge and information. Some of the initiatives available through the programme includes funding to upgrade inefficient equipment, timers to switch off equipment when not being used, My Green Lab ambassador training, and LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework) certification.
The Sustainable Labs Resource Hub SharePoint
The Sustainable Labs Resource Hub was designed to offer guidance to laboratory users with the aim of optimizing the efficiency of their lab spaces. The hub contains information, hints and tips across various topics including water, energy, green chemistry, plastics and more and is available for staff and students to access. You can also read case studies of best practice from across campus and find inspiration to make feasible changes in your lab. The hub is up and running and can be found here Sustainable Labs Resource Hub - Home (sharepoint.com).
The Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF)
LEAF is a certification scheme that awards bronze, silver and gold awards to labs achieving key sustainability criteria. It is a nationally recognised certification, and the University has committed to funding institutional access, meaning it is free for any member of staff to sign their lab up and take part.
So far this year we’ve had 10 Bronze, 1 Silver, and 2 Gold certifications awarded across campus with several more awaiting audit!
The success of the roadshows has been down to a massive team effort which cannot be overlooked. Many thanks to:
- Laura Wilkinson for leading the Sustainable Labs program.
- Rob, Olivia and Dmitrijs from the Energy team for helping to deliver roadshows with us, providing valuable insights into the University achievements in reducing energy across campus, and offering helpful advice to lab users.
- Lorraine Williams-Jones and Abigail Wordsworth for their communications work to promote the Roadshows and working on some amazing bookmarks and posters!
More information can be found on the Sustainable Labs Resource Hub (University of Leeds login required) or by contacting sustainability@leeds.ac.uk. We’re also happy to be contacted too, feel free to drop me and Laura an email at a.victoria@leeds.ac.uk / l.t.wilkinson@leeds.ac.uk and let’s talk labs! 😊
Get involved with the Sustainability Service
If you're a staff member, you can join our Sustainability Community TEAMs channel to join in the discussion and get peer support from different people working on sustainability across the University. You could also become a Staff Sustainability Architect or be involved in developing a Blueprint sustainability plan for your team, school or service.
Ashley Victoria
Student Sustainability Architect
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our sustainable labs work is linked to the following SDGs:
- Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
- Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
Find out more about our impact on the SDGs.