Webinar: Opportunities for Improvement in Energy-Intensive Research Facilities
Research institutions interested in reducing energy use, operational costs, and their carbon footprint can find great opportunities by focusing on laboratories. Due to their need to ensure air quality and safety for occupants, these research facilities are significantly more energy-intensive than office buildings or other campus facilities. I2SL, a nonprofit educational organization, has developed the Labs2Zero program as a key component of its mission to provide education on ways to make labs safer, more sustainable, and more energy-efficient. Labs2Zero offers academic research institutions a variety of tools to benchmark and improve the energy performance of their laboratory buildings.
Labs2Zero Program Director Alison Farmer will explain what makes labs such energy-intensive facilities, what types of improvements labs can undertake to save energy, and how the Labs2Zero tools, most of which are free for anyone to access, can help campuses reduce their carbon footprint and operating costs. Components in the Labs2Zero approach including comparing labs’ energy use to similar facilities by using I2SL’s Lab Benchmarking Tool, which includes a peer database of more than 1,400 lab buildings and an Energy Score that rates lab facilities on a 1-100 percentile basis; reviewing buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions intensity using the Operational Emissions Score; benchmarking the embodied carbon in lab facilities; and using I2SL’s unique energy auditing software to reveal actionable insights and measures to improve building performance.
To help university sustainability officials understand how to benchmark lab buildings’ energy performance, Alison will walk through the data required and steps for using the I2SL Lab Benchmarking Tool, explaining how to use the free Labs2Zero Energy and Operational Emissions Scores to work with campus leadership, facility managers, and EH&S professionals to take the next steps to address energy efficiency. She will describe how I2SL’s automated energy auditing software can identify areas for improvement and help to prioritize projects based on potential energy savings and implementation costs.
Participants will understand why and how to benchmark lab buildings’ energy intensity, where to get information on potential energy-saving measures tailored to their facilities, and ideas and inspiration to work with university management to address challenges to reduce their operational costs and carbon footprint.
Presenters
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Alison Farmer, Vice President and Labs2Zero Program Director, International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories Alison Farmer, I2SL’s Labs2Zero program director, is a former research astrophysicist who is dedicated to saving our home planet by bringing energy efficiency to lab buildings. Alison has worked in both consulting and lab owner’s roles and specializes in energy assessment, HVAC controls, and software tool development. She also serves as Vice President of I2SL. |