| Program on the Environment

In fall 2012, the ENVIR 480 class focused on the challenging and important topic of Green Laboratories. The eleven students learned a lot about laboratories on campus, and identified both challenges and opportunities to make them more environmentally sustainable. Building off of great partnerships with staff from individual labs, the ESS Office, UW Recycling, UW Facilities, UW Purchasing, and more, the students completed projects about topics including:

Sink Aerators
LED Lights
Green Purchasing
Electricity Monitoring and Consumption, and
Waste Diversion (the above graphic was designed by this group!)

To learn more, check out the ENVIR 480 class blog. There you will find the final class newsletter, the final presentation, a green purchasing list, and up-to-date information on the class right now (the current topic if Zero Waste)!

Also keep your eyes open for more coming soon from the ESS Office about the forthcoming Green Labs Program.

ENVIR 480 Sustainability Studio

Autumn 2012: Green Laboratories and Sustainability on Campus

TTH 10:30-12:20

SLN 13799

Help make UW’s laboratory spaces more environmentally-friendly! Did you know that laboratory facilities comprise about 13% of the UW’s building inventory – altogether almost 2.4 million square feet? Did you know that laboratories use significantly more energy and water, per square foot, than office and residential buildings?

In response to this challenge, the UW Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Office is launching a new Green Labs program. In Autumn 2012, ENVIR 480: Sustainability Studio, students will support this new program by engaging in activities such as:

· Pilot testing the new Green Labs tool with specific groups on campus
· Creating a framework for competitions among labs regarding resource use
· Conducting outreach to different lab groups on campus to create awareness about the program
· Developing a list of “how to” resources for the reporting tool