Operating laboratories in a sustainable and climate-friendly way

Climate change is one of the most pressing societal challenges. In laboratories worldwide, scientists are developing solutions to address both the causes and effects of climate change. But the work inside the labs themselves must also become more sustainable. The 29 winning projects in the “BWGreenLabs” ideas competition show how the operation of laboratories can be optimized and energy, water, waste, and materials reduced. Three projects from the University of Stuttgart have made it to the practical phase of the competition and are now testing potential savings in everyday laboratory work.

“With our ReLabs project, we aim to reduce the ecological footprint of microbiological laboratories,” says project manager Dr. Nadine Silber from the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management (IFF). Silber and her team are developing an intelligent sensor system that will automatically switch off unused laboratory equipment and identify potential electricity savings. Zero waste boxes improve waste management, and rinse water from emergency showers will be treated and recycled. Disposable materials such as disposable cuvettes are to be replaced by reusable materials.

In cleanrooms too, reusable materials and more efficient energy management will be adopted. “Cleanrooms consume particularly large amounts of energy because a laboratory environment completely free of contaminants must be maintained,” says Dr. Peter Radgen Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use (IER). Radgen and his colleague Dr. Rainer Stöhr of the 3^rd Physics Institute record energy flows and waste volumes of the Center for Applied Quantum Technology (ZAQuant) at the University of Stuttgart in order to identify optimization and savings potential. Protective clothing such as gloves and overalls are to be replaced by reusable products, hazardous chemical waste reduced, and continuous airflow made more energy-efficient. The sustainability concept could become a blueprint for other cleanrooms at the University of Stuttgart and other universities in Baden-Württemberg.

Dr. Konstantinos Stergiaropoulos and his team want to reduce electricity costs and CO₂ emissions in university laboratories. “So far, we have not been able to determine whether the consumption comes from the test benches and laboratory equipment or general building operations,” says Dr. Konstantinos Stergiaropoulos from the Institute for Building Energetics, Thermodynamics and Energy Storage (IGTE). The goal is to establish a monitoring system at Pfaffenwaldring 10 on the Vaihingen campus in order to track energy use and identify its sources. “We achieve this with flexible measuring technology and software-based pattern recognition.” This reduces unnecessary standby operation. In addition, the operation of test benches is to be increasingly shifted to times when electricity from renewable energy sources is available.

The State Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts promotes sustainable research practices in order to reduce the ecological footprint of laboratories at universities in Baden-Wuerttemberg. In the first stage, 29 project teams will spend a year developing and testing best-practice approaches for saving energy, water, waste, materials, and chemicals in daily laboratory operations. In a second step, the best results will also benefit other laboratories in Baden-Württemberg. The state is initially funding the projects with EUR 35,000 each. The best roll-out concepts have the prospect of receiving an additional EUR 100,000 in funding.