best practices in laboratories from the dual perspectives of research and sustainability
TRANSCRIPT
best practices in laboratoriesfrom the dual perspectives of
research and sustainability
best practices: laboratory equipment
fume hoods
ultra-low freezers
lasers
microscopes
large centrifuges
heating blocks
tissue culture hoods
autoclaves
deionized, distilled, and ultrapure water
plastics
gloves
animal bedding
best practices: laboratory consumables
a brief conceptualization of energy consumption
30 kWh/day
fume hoods
wikipedia.com
fume hoods
greenfumehood.com
fume hoods
classification
velocity of airflow through the hood
uses of the hood
ducted v ductless
fume hoods: how it works
ehs.ufl.edu
fume hoods: how it works
web.princeton.edu
fume hoods: constant air volume (CAV)
exhaust flowrate or quantity of air pulled through the hood is constant
oregonstate.edu
fume hoods: variable air volume (VAV)
exhaust flowrate or quantity of air pulled through the hood varies
southwestsolutions.com
fume hoods
energy consumption
3x typical household-Lawrence Berkeley Labs
‘be good in the hood’
‘be good in the hood’
ALWAYS close the sash
thermoscientific.com
safest position.
‘be good in the hood’
do not store unnecessary items in the hood
‘be good in the hood’
being good in the fume hood not only ensures your safetybut it also saves energy
tissue culture hoods
med.cam.ac.uk newvoiceforresearch.blogspot.com
tissue culture hoods: how they work
ars.usda.gov
tissue culture hoods
energy consumption
1 – 12.6 kWh/day depending on usage-manufacturer data
0.3 – 0.6 kWh/day per UV lamp-manufacturer data
‘be good in the hood’
‘be good in the hood’
turn hood COMPLETELY off
thelabworldgroup.com
prevents UV damage toreagents and staff
‘be good in the hood’
being good in the tc hood not only ensures your safetyand prevents unnecessary UV damage to hood contents
but it also saves energy
ultra-low freezers
ultra-low freezers: -80
energy consumption
15 – 20 kWh/day-manufacturer data
-validated by monitoring
‘-70 is the new -80’
‘-70 is the new -80’
chill up freezers from -80 to -70
save 2-4kW per day
DOE
‘-70 is the new -80’
clean freezer coils, regularly defrost freezer
save 12-25% energy
other best practices for ultra-low freezers
prolong lifetime of the freezer
perform scheduled maintenance on freezers
other best practices for ultra-low freezers
prolong lifetime of the freezer
remove old, unneeded samples
other best practices for ultra-low freezers
fewer samples stored, fewer freezers are needed
transfer samples to other storage paradigms
-20 freezers
ambient temperature storage containers
other best practices for ultra-low freezers
fewer samples stored, fewer freezers are needed
lasers
laserfest.org
lasers: types
gas lasers
solid state
lasers: gas
energy consumption
15 – 120 kWh/day-manufacturer data
exchange gas lasers for solid state lasers
could save a minimum of 50% energy-manufacturer data
best practices for lasers
solid state lasers last longer, lower maintenance costs
prolongs lifetime of the laser
saves energy
best practices for lasers
turn off (gas) lasers when not in use, especially over the weekend
microscopes
mercury-free microscopy
mercury/metal halide bulbs
mercury-free microscopy
mercury/metal halide bulbs
5000 hours/mg Hg 2.5 hours/mg Hg
1 bulb2000 bulbs
mercury-free microscopy
mercury-free microscopy
recycle used mercury and metal halide bulbs
energy consumption
illumination: 0.12 – 6 kWh/day-monitored by My Green Lab
other best practices for microscopy
exchange mercury/metal halide for solid state light sources
savings 25 – 90%-monitored by My Green Lab
other best practices for microscopy
less toxic, cost less to own, in many cases are better for samples
cost of ownership of microscope illumination sourcesMERCURY ARC METAL HALIDE SOLID STATE
Replacement bulbs 150 15 n/a
Total Bulb Costs $22,500 $10,500 $0
Total Liquid Light Guide Costs
n/a $5,250 $0
LED comparison with metal halide: stability
LED comparison with metal halide: ‘brightness’
mh_dapi ss_dapi mh_gfp ss_gfp mh_y5 ss_y50
50
100
150
200
250
metal halide (300hrs) v. sold state
LED comparison with metal halide: energy consumption
other best practices for microscopy
turn off microscope equipment when not in use
prolongs lifetime of the equipment
saves energy
large centrifuges
djblabcare.co.uk
large centrifuges
energy consumption
0.7 – 6 kWh/day-manufacturer data
store rotors at 4C
energy savings minimum 10%
best practices for large centrifuges
saves time
turn centrifuge off after use
savings minimum 10%
best practices for large centrifuges
prolongs lifetime
heating blocks
phenixresearch.com
heating blocks
energy consumption
0.5 – 12 kWh/day-S-labs
best practices for heating blocks
turn them off when not in use
energy savings minimum 10%
prolongs lifetime
improves safety
autoclaves
oh.water.usgs.gov
lightlabsusa.com
autoclaves: types
stand-alone
bench-top
autoclaves
water consumption
90 gallons hot water per cycle
22 gallons cold water for effluent cooling-UCSB
autoclaves
University of Edinburgh
autoclaves accounted for41% of the total energy
usage on campus
energy consumption
combine loads
use a smaller, research –grade autoclave
best practices for autoclaves
keep autoclave in ‘standby’ rather than ‘on’
water
tap water
distilled water
deionized water
ultrapure water
water
tap water
distilled water
deionized water
ultrapure water
purified
distilled water (ddH2O)
www.stuart-equipment.com
energy and water intense
deionized water (DI)
pre-treatment
reverse osmosis
polishing (deionization)
UV sterilization, final filtration
usually stored
50% efficient
ultrapure water:Millipore (MilliQ)
goes through a filter
35-50% efficient, larger systems more efficient-UCSB
only use what is necessary – keep in mind that what you use is just a fraction of the total water being used
recycle filter cartridges through Millipore
best practices for water consumption
consumables
plastics
plastics
caissonlabs.com labnetinternational.com
plasticswaste stream
est 12% is recycled
every year est 1100 square miles of plastic leave labs-Mt. Baker Bio
recycle plastics that can be recycled
best practices for plastics
utilize vendor recycling programs
use biodegradable plastics
use only what is needed
VWR: TerraCycle for all pipet tip boxes
vendor recycling programs
Genessee Scientific: pipet tip boxes only from GS
Mt. Baker Bio: pipet tip boxes, reagent bottles
gloves
wikipedia.org
gloveswaste stream
1000s of pounds – not well documented
reuse gloves when possible
best practices for gloves
glove recycling program through Kimberly-Clark
animal bedding
drsforstersmith.competcity.com.au
animal beddingwaste stream
usually sent to a landfill
Emory University produces 22 tons/month
compost
best practices for animal bedding
“bedder” animal bedding