| Overall Rating | Reporter - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | |
| Liaison | Carrie Metzgar |
| Submission Date | March 2, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of California, San Diego
IN-9: Green Laboratories
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
Sara
McKinstry Campus Sustainability Manager Vice Chancellor for Resource Management & Planning |
Does the institution’s green laboratory program address the following?:
| Yes or No | |
| Energy conservation and efficiency, e.g. fume hood ("shut the sash") and freezer maintenance programs | Yes |
| Water conservation and efficiency | Yes |
| Chemical use and disposal | Yes |
| Materials management, e.g. green purchasing guidelines and recycling and reuse programs | Yes |
| Training for lab users on sustainable practices | Yes |
A brief description of the green laboratory program, including the specific initiatives selected above:
UC San Diego’s Green Labs program was formed in 2013 and its efforts engage laboratory faculty, staff and students in performing assessments, reducing waste and improving recycling, replacing inefficient equipment and transitioning to best practices. In 2016 the UC Sustainability Steering Committee approved policy that each UC campus must develop an ongoing green lab assessment program and action plan, with reporting on progress to the UC Office of the President in 2018 and 2019.
UC San Diego is ahead of the curve in meeting this new policy. In fact, in 2017 we won the 1st National Freezer Challenge sponsored by the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) and My Green Lab with funding from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Stirling Ultracold, Panasonic, Lilly, Labcon, and DryBank Labs: https://www.freezerchallenge.org/award-winners.html
The UC San Diego Green Labs program assists our over 900 labs in reducing their resource use and improving education and engagement efforts around these themes:
Electricity
Lighting
Cold storage and freezer management
Fume hoods and ventilation
Water
Inventory management
Recycling
Waste reduction
Hazardous waste disposal
Green chemistry
Travel
Field work (leave no trace)
Community (sharing BP’s; engaged scholarship)
Purchasing
Leveraging incentive/rebate programs
Utility usage reporting (transparency)
Autoclaves/Glass washing
Education (integrating Green Lab practices into UCSD classrooms)
Using the My Green Lab assessment tool, we have certified 22 labs through our Green Labs Certification program, with 16 in progress and a goal to certify 30 new labs in 2018. In addition, we are currently working on the following projects:
- Packaging reuse
- Improved lab recycling signage
- Updated information in new PI info packets and training and in hazardous waste training
- Promotion of EH&S approved ethidium bromide alternatives to labs still using EtR
- Reinvigoration of EH&S's ChemCycle unopened chemical reuse inventory process
- Lab MSW and recycling waste audit
- Dark room and x-ray processing transition to digital
- Green Labs Sustainability Fair
- Fume hood audit and transition to automated metering
- More to come!
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
We partner closely with My Green Lab on our program.
Second contact: Jennifer Bowser.
We partner closely with My Green Lab on our program.
Second contact: Jennifer Bowser.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.