Dedicated to advancing sustainable laboratories globally.
The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) has created the LabSavers campaign
to provide resources and encourage public and private lab owners, managers, and researchers to
clean out and evaluate lab space across their research campuses each year in spring, or whenever is
convenient.
Why conduct a lab clean-out and space assessment?
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Inventory, consolidate, and properly store lab supplies
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Dispose of (or reuse) excess chemicals safely
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Repurpose old or unwanted equipment where needed
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Evaluate lab space and storage and optimize for better research efficiency
I2SL’s LabSavers tool kit below consists of guidelines for conducting a lab clean-out and space evaluation at a research institution, sample materials to promote the campaign in a building or across a campus, and a how-to guide for implementation. Promotional materials include a logo, customizable fliers, a poster, and digital signage for lobby kiosks or mounted TV monitors. The LabSavers program is meant to provide suggestions and templates, but facility managers, green labs professionals, EHS staff, and research or student leaders should tailor the program and customize the materials to fit their buildings and participants.
We’d love to hear about how you used these resources to conduct lab clean-out/space evaluation and how the effort went, especially if you also changed how lab space is being used and saved the need for new construction or additions. You can share your results and before-and-after photos with I2SL to info@i2sl.org, and we can share your case study.
Looking for an example of a lab clean-out and space evaluation? Watch this talk presented by Suzann Staal and Ethan Carter of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus during I2SL’s 2024 Education Week.
LabSavers Tool Kit
Please click on the icons below to download items in the tool kit.
Read this guide on implementing I2SL’s LabSavers campaign and using the promotional resources before you get started.
A quick guide on conducting a lab clean-out, including suggestions for promoting participation and reducing equipment, lab supplies, and chemicals.
A quick guide on conducting a lab space evaluation in research facilities, including key colleagues to include and resources for reusing and sharing equipment.
Promote LabSavers in your organization with 11x17 posters or an 8.5x11 flier; you can customize the PowerPoint versions with placeholders for dates, contact information, and logistics.
Promote LabSavers in your organization with this 8.5x11 flier that can be customized with before-and-after photos to inspire others and logistical information.
Customize the text and photos in this file to make a digital kiosk sign or cafeteria screen posting. Contact the building manager or event coordinator to post.
Use the LabSavers logo on materials or with social media posts to various networks; You can use the text below as example when you post with photos. You can also use one of the social media graphics we created that are sized for all social media channels.
It’s time to do some spring cleaning in our laboratories! De-clutter labs and maximize space for research during our LabSavers campaign. [Your Organization] will be conducting lab clean-outs between [insert dates] and space assessments if relevant. [Insert URL or contact information of your organization]. #CleanLabsSaveSpace #LabSavers
Lab Space Assessment and Realloaction Processes at Three University Campuses
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School
University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS)
University of California San Diego (UCSD) Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO)
What is the school’s or institution’s policy on assigning lab space?
See CU Anschutz Research Space Guidelines
MOUs are signed by new and existing principal investigators (PIs) and renewed ever two years. No space commitments or promises are given in new faculty offer letters; instead, their MOU documents space allocation prior to their onsite visit, which ensures space offered to new faculty has been approved by the department and dean's office.
Which campus leader gave the charge to conduct lab space assessment and reallocation?
Dean of the Medical School in 2021
Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Authority delegated to the Vice Chancellor of Marine Sciences (VCMS) by the Chancellor of UCSD in ~2023. The Scripps Space Management Committee (SSMC) identifies space solutions, which are provided to the VCMS for approval.
How is space surveyed?
In 2021, the space was first surveyed by two teams walking about 530,000 square feet of total space. A floor-by-floor or unit-by-unit “mini” survey effort (on a rolling cycle so that each floor or unit is visited within every a certain number of years) is planned for launch in FY 2026.
A full space audit of all space (lab, office, graduate research assistant, administrative) is conducted by the dean's office every two years. This serves as a double-check to the annual space data collected by the individual departments and programs.
Data is collected for the Space Utility Value calculation (see below). Annual walkthroughs of space are conducted by each faculty or PI. In addition to the SSMC, there is a Faculty Space Advisory Committee (FSAC), some of whom serve as voting members of the SSMC, to advise the VCMS on policy and assist with space disputes.
Who does the surveying?
The two teams conducting the lab space survey in 2021 included senior scientists, School of Medicine (dean and next-in-line leadership), Research Affairs, EH&S, and Facilities staff.
For annual space data collection, chairs and directors oversee the process with the help of their operational staff in their respective departments and programs. For the biennial space audit, the Assistant Dean for Operations in the Dean's Office oversees the process with help from operational staff.
Data to determine the Space Utility Value calculation is typically collected by the SIO Director of Space Management and the SIO Space Analyst. Annual walkthroughs of space for each faculty or PI is done by at least two FSAC members and the Director of Space Management and/or the Senior Space Analyst; the latter two participate in all space walkthroughs for consistency across the organization.
What metrics are collected?
The 2021 evaluation assessed lab spaces a scale of 1-5 (where 1 was storage/clutter and 5 was overcrowded) and compared total grant dollars to research space. In 2023 they transitioned to wet research expenditure compared to wet research space. Expanded efforts include an annual Research Productivity Assessment, based on CU Anschutz Research Space Guidelines and a PI Scorecard exercise (see below).
Currently the following metrics are collected annually for each PI with wet lab space:
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Wet lab-based expenditures only
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Space (assigned as Wet Research ASF of bench/open lab bays and alcoves only)
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Lab Personnel directly supported by the research program only - no interns, no visitors)
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Space assigned: Includes building, room number, and square footage
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Research expenditures: Median is calculated for each unit for comparison across the PIs within that unit
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People: Includes number of post-docs and graduate students in each research group for each PI (co-advised students count as one half for each PI); the average is then calculated for each unit for comparison across the PIs within that unit and across the college
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Some units track the number of grant proposals written and grant proposals funded.
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Average annual direct cost funding over the past three years
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Space Allocation: Includes faculty offices; office space for the students, postdocs, visitors, specialists, project scientists, engineers, staff researchers, program analysts, administrative staff; lab space and research support areas; and storage
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Lab users: Includes staff, visiting scholars, specialists, project scientists, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students