Talk of Texas: Challenge Spurs Opportunity for Sustainable Lab Professionals

To kick off the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) Annual Conference in Dallas October 20, a panel offered diverse industry perspectives on the headwinds, tailwinds, and opportunities currently facing the lab sustainability community. Moderated by Eleni Reed of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the group shared how focusing on energy improvements can help labs reduce overhead costs, enhance existing building stock, and ensure future resilience.

Chris Incarvito, Associate Provost for Science Initiatives, Yale University, noted that higher education is dealing with a series of events that compound each other, including reductions in research spending and taxes on endowment gains. Architect Ellen Mitchell of LPA Design Studios observed that the life sciences market is moving away from new construction and toward renovation, following a period of overbuilding after the pandemic, and that lab projects are also moving from research facilities to manufacturing. According to I2SL Labs2Zero Program Director Alison Farmer, I2SL is continuing to diversify its portfolio beyond the in-person Annual Conference to offer virtual education events and software to identify energy-saving measures for lab buildings (see related article on the AIM Report tool).

Lab owners are pivoting from increasing their square footage to optimizing existing space and making their operations more efficient. Ellen noted that, with more remote work, unused office space is being repurposed for research, since scientists can’t “lab from home,” and lab sustainability initiatives are being repositioned as ways to save energy and money. Other ways owners can save money, Ellen said, is by revisiting the materials used in construction to reduce both their carbon footprint and cost. And in Texas in particular, where the grid can be volatile, she suggested that focusing on resilience can ensure continuity of research.

Current challenges offer a great opportunity, Chris concurred. “It’s a good time to pause, reflect, and be smarter with our square footage,” he said, by taking an inventory of lab space to see how it can be better used. At Yale, for example, campus leaders are looking at their capital strategic plan through a lens of efficiency and sustainability. Alison pointed out that I2SL offers LabSavers materials to help institutions and companies conduct space evaluations to ensure that research areas are optimized. The I2SL International Fume Hood Challenge under development (see article) will also connect lab facility managers, researchers, EH&S, and green labs professionals in improving efficiency and system performance.

Lab decarbonization is still being boosted by a variety of tailwinds, panelists noted. At Yale, for example, Chris said the capital projects that are moving forward are focused on energy efficiency and are looking at ways to assign ventilation rates and optimize building systems. Ellen noted that across the country, building electricity consumption is down 10 percent overall, and renewable energy is on the rise. “That’s because there is a business case for it,” she said. And according to Alison, in the time since the Labs2Zero Energy Score was created, use of the I2SL Lab Benchmarking Tool has increased 400 percent, providing enough new data to upgrade the building performance scores offered through the Labs2Zero program. She also shared ways that I2SL and the industry at large are making greater use of data and quantitative performance metrics.

Other trends, such as the growth of artificial intelligence, offer opportunities for improving lab building performance. “AI has the potential to connect smart buildings to smart grids, all powered by renewable energy,” Ellen said. This will allow labs to be more than static buildings, instead becoming part of a larger ecosystem, pivoting when the grid has more cost-effective, renewable energy to offer.

Photo: Eleni Reed, Ellen Mitchell, Chris Incarvito, and Alison Farmer