Sustainable laboratories

Laboratories consume about 10x more electricity than a typical office space due to high ventilation rates, ultra-cold sample storage and energy-intensive equipment. Lab ventilation of a typical chemistry laboratory can account for 60 % of the total energy consumption due to high airflow of the chemical fume hoods. A single ultralow temperature freezer can consume as much energy as a typical household. Measures such as proper settings and maintenance of these freezers, closing of fume hood sashes, using shared, energy efficient equipment and turning it off when not in use offer great energy saving potential. 

Laboratories consume a lot of chemicals and other materials and generate high amounts of waste, particularly of single use plastic consumables. In fact, greenhouse gas emissions from materials usually comprise the largest part of a laboratory footprint. Reductions are possible through switching to more environmentally friendly alternatives, material sharing between labs and raising awareness through training. 

Many negative environmental impacts arise during the production of laboratory materials and equipment. Sustainable procurement criteria, joint procurement with structured warehousing, reusable alternatives and repair options reduce resource consumption and emissions.

Over the years, numerous working methods have become established in everyday laboratory life that appear sensible from a technical point of view but have unintentionally led to unnecessarily high resource consumption. These include, for example, permanently running devices, unnecessarily low freezer temperatures, ventilation systems in continuous operation, and the routine use of disposable materials.

Many of these practices can be changed without compromising quality. Conscious equipment management, optimized settings, careful and conscious planning of workflows, and switching to reusable alternatives help to save energy and materials, while increasing sustainability and efficiency in the laboratory.

Operate chemical fume hoods efficiently

A single chemical fume hood consumes as much energy as 4 households. Link

• Closing the front sash of a chemical fume hood with variable air supply reduces the air flow and saves around 25 % energy.
• Using low-flow or ductless fume hoods saves more than 40 % energy.
• Think of decommissioning unused or rarely used fume hoods. 

Optimize ultra-low temperature freezers

A single ULT freezer uses as much energy as an average household. Link

• Increasing the base temperature from -80 °C to -70 °C reduces power consumption by up to 30 % without compromising sample integrity.
• Annual defrosting and maintenance can reduce energy consumption by additional 10 %.
• Efficient organization of the freezer space for easy sample search saves energy by shortening the door opening times.
• Join the annual freezer challenge to improve your cold storage management in a playful and competitive way.

Organize laboratory inventory well

• A well-maintained, up-to-date sample inventory system minimizes unnecessary searching and reduces freezer door opening times.
• Clean out old unneeded samples on a regular basis, especially when people leave the lab. 

Purchase energy-efficient equipment

• When purchasing new equipment, choose ENERGY STAR-certified or similarly tested laboratory equipment whenever possible.
• New energy efficient ultra low temperature freezers use only 50 % of the energy old models need. 

Share energy intensive equipment with other labs

• Freezers, autoclaves and other energy intensive lab equipment run most efficiently when the full capacity is used. Share this equipment with your colleagues and run autoclaves only when full. 

Only operate equipment when needed

• Consistently turn off equipment that is not needed. Alternatively, put it into standby mode to reduce base loads.
• Use stickers to make clear which equipment should be turned off when.
• If people keep forgetting, use timer switches, so that the equipment turns off automatically.

Waste prevention in the laboratory begins with planning. The “5 Rs” provide clear guidance on how to use resources efficiently and significantly reduce waste volumes.

Refuse 

• By thorough literature search and asking colleagues, one can avoid performing experiments that have already been done and for which data is available.
• Only use disposable materials if required for safety reasons.
• Avoid unnecessary free samples, advertising material, or packaging units.
• Replace hazardous solvents with more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Reduce 

• Minimize consumption through careful planning. Optimize small scale tests before running large scale experiments.
• Downsize experiments and reaction volumes where possible.
• Choose large packaging or container sizes to reduce packaging waste.
• Prefer products with a long shelf life to avoid mispurchases and disposal.

Reuse 

• Instead of single use plastic consumables, choose reusable alternatives such as
  • glass pipettes, Petri dishes and bottles
  • metal spatulas and inoculation loops
  • washable cuvettes, and plating beads
• Make use of centralized washing kitchens, which collect, wash and sterilize glassware, tip boxes and other materials in a more efficient way.
• Plastic consumables made of sturdy plastic like PP or HD-PE can be washed, sterilized and reused (Falcon tubes, pipette tips using automated tip washers)
• Use pipette tip refill systems or loose tips to refill and reuse tip boxes.
• Gloves can be disinfected by dry heat, steam, UV or ethanol and reused for up to 20 times without losing their mechanical properties. Read more...
• Reuse shipping materials such as ice packs or sturdy boxes.

Repurpose 

• Repurpose packaging (zip-lock bags to send sequencing samples, tip boxes as fridge organizers…).
• Reuse reagent racks or holders from disused kits.
• Use suitable materials creatively for other tasks in the laboratory before they become waste.

Recycle 

• Collect cardboard, paper, metal, and plastic packaging separately and use the recycling options offered by the university.
• To recycle also laboratory plastic, labs at UBB started a pilot to separate and recycle non contaminated lab plastic made of PP, HD-PE or PS.
• Several take back programs exist for other lab waste, such as for PET cell culture bottles offered by PAN-Biotech or RightCycle® recycling of Kimtech™ gloves. 

• Order products in bulk and in larger quantities to reduce transport distances and packaging material.
• Give preference to suppliers who produce or deliver locally and use proven environmentally friendly manufacturing and logistics processes (e.g. NEB or Merck).
• Look for environmentally friendly alternatives, such as biobased consumables or products shipped at ambient temperature instead of (dry) ice packaging. Link
• Make use of the various workshops available to repair or locally produce experimental setups (Life sciences - UBB workshop, Physics - Workshop and Technical Services, Chemistry - Fine mechanics and glassblowing workshop)

A sustainable work culture is created through conscious decisions in daily laboratory operations. Many effective improvements are easy to implement and increase both efficiency and safety.

Promote training and knowledge sharing

Introduce all new team members to best sustainable practices and highlight new ideas and successes.

Create an exit protocol

Make sure that all scientists leaving the lab trash unneeded samples, create a concise inventory of remaining samples, delete unnecessary data and transfer all the other files to digital file structures. Link

Regular team coordination

Introduce short coordination routines for energy, material, and equipment management, for example as a part of regular lab meetings. Clarify responsibilities within the group and make sustainability a default part of your research.

Use materials and equipment efficiently

Create inventory systems and use booking platforms to efficiently share materials and equipment with lab mates and other labs. Make sure to save resources wherever possible and to switch to reusable alternatives. 

Join a lab sustainability certification program

From 2026 onward, we will be running a pilot of SPARKHub, the new lab sustainability certification. Sustainable Practice And Research Knowledge Hub is an open-access platform providing standard actions, resources, tools and emission calculators. It provides modules tailored to various research activities developed by experts in the field. Successful labs will be awarded a certification for public recognition of their sustainability excellence in research.