This year, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) is in the Lone Star State for the 2025 Annual Conference, October 19 through 22 at the Omni Hotel in Dallas. Over 500 lab owners, operators, designers, engineers, managers, builders, and developers will attend technical sessions, engage with vendors at the Technology Fair, network with peers, and tour laboratories demonstrating sustainable design and green labs principles in the Dallas area. During three days of technical sessions, over 100 U.S. and international speakers will present on decarbonization, sustainable science, sustainable design, and system optimization tracks. Register now to take advantage of the early bird rates!

Sharing lab space can be an efficient way to maximize a building’s footprint, but designers need to keep the users’ needs in mind to ensure successful shared lab spaces work for researchers. Kelly Sullivan, PhD and Global Director of Operations & Labs for the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), presented on designing for shared lab spaces during a recent webinar hosted by Lab Design. In order to successfully design these spaces, Kelly emphasized taking a human-center approach throughout the design process, balancing collaboration and efficiency, and working to future-proof laboratory infrastructure.

Image courtesy of CIC Innovation Services LLC

After completing a pilot phase and refining the software, I2SL is getting ready to publicly launch its latest Labs2Zero offering, the Actionable Insights and Measures (AIM) Report. Available starting in mid-August, the AIM Report is an automated energy audit tool specifically designed for lab buildings. It quickly identifies and calculates potential savings for applicable energy conservation measures, producing results similar to those of a high-level energy audit for a fraction of the cost, and allowing users to build the business case for further project development and design.

For lab owners, operators, designers, engineers, and users in the United Kingdom (UK), sustainability has long been a priority, through organizations such as SLabs and the UK Science Park Association (UKSPA). This spring, UK sustainable lab advocates took it a step further, officially forming the I2SL UK Chapter. According to Phil Macdonald of Oberlanders Architects, who is a newly appointed member of the I2SL Headquarters Board of Directors, “The UK Chapter was founded to provide a forum focused predominantly on facilities for science, specifically focused on energy performance and carbon reduction.”

The first Phil Wirdzek Leadership Award winner representing pharmaceutical laboratories has emerged as a green labs leader for both his company and the industry. Andrew King is AstraZeneca’s senior director of HSE (health, safety and environment), sustainability, quality control systems, and IT; he received the Phil Wirdzek Emerging Leader Award in September 2024 in part because his enthusiasm for green labs and cooperative nature have helped motivate AstraZeneca staff across the globe to make efficiency improvements. What’s more, Andrew’s leadership and competitive spirit have inspired other commercial labs to improve their energy efficiency and sustainability efforts.

Training the chemists of tomorrow—and today—to understand the impacts of the materials and chemical choices they make at the bench is key to improving safety, energy efficiency, and waste reduction in labs. I2SL’s Circular Economy for Labs Community of Practice (CoP) held a Green Chemistry 101 forum in May, where Amy Cannon of Beyond Benign explained the 12 principles of green chemistry and their practical applications; and Ettigounder (Samy) Ponnusamy of MilliporeSigma showed CoP members how to use the DOZN tool to select green chemistry alternatives.