Our Future First: Labs turning over a new LEAF

Work to reduce waste and energy consumption in our science laboratories has been recognised with a series of awards from a sustainability assessment scheme.

Our science labs contribute around a quarter of the University’s total energy consumption and around a fifth of our day-to-day waste production. They are therefore a significant potential battleground in our aims to reduce the University’s carbon emissions.

Recognising this, Technical Services colleagues have been supporting lab users participating in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) for the last two years. The scheme provides a framework for supporting, measuring and rewarding action on waste, management of chemicals and equipment, and safe and green working practices.

In total, 98 of our labs on campus are registered with LEAF, with 20 awarded Bronze status, and 4 having achieved Silver status. The team now has its sights set on achieving Gold awards.

Green lab practices

Sustainable working practices introduced in our labs include:

• An energy meter showing real-time fume cupboard energy consumption.
• Water chiller-recirculation units and vacuum pumps considerably reduce water use during experiments.
• Cataloguing chemicals to reduce wasted materials and set-up time during teaching.
• Signs and stickers reminding colleagues to switch off equipment and close fume cupboard sashes to reduce wasted energy.
• Adding recycling bins in labs to allow better segregation of waste, reducing the amount designated as hazardous or contaminated.
• Repairing equipment that would otherwise have to be discarded, recovering reusable parts from unrepairable items and even making new, bespoke apparatus by hand, using glassblowing skills within the team!

The LEAF project is led by Scott O’Brien, Associate Director of Operations in Technical Services.

Mark McClemont, Senior Technician in Teaching and Glassblowing, said: “I abhor waste, so it’s a natural follow-on to implement these practices.

“It’s much more satisfying to be working in a way that minimises wastage and conserves resources.”

These sustainable changes could contribute to reducing our lab costs by thousands of pounds per lab per year.

Our Technical Services team also supported Royal Berkshire NHS tenants in the Harborne Building to achieve LEAF awards for its labs, through our Health Innovation Partnership. The work, led by Marta O’Brien, Senior Technician, resulted in 6 NHS labs in the building achieving Bronze status.

Our Future First

We are sharing initiatives and actions by colleagues and teams as part of the Our Future First campaign, highlighting how individual behaviours can contribute to the University’s strategic aims on sustainability.

Find out more about how action in our buildings is cutting carbon on campus, in our update on the SportsPark heat pump project.