Measuring Sustainability in the Lab: A Lab Manager's Guide to Sustainability Metrics

2. Usage-related Metrics

Another way to keep track of energy usage by equipment is through metrics that score how often or to what extent the equipment is in appropriate use. For example, a fume hood can use as much energy per day as 3.5 households, but energy usage drops when the sash is closed. To understand whether the sash is appropriately being kept shut when not in use, laboratory managers can use a metric called the fume hood airflow management ratio. This is defined as the ratio of the average flow in cubic feet per minute (cfm) to the minimum flow in cfm when the sash is closed. A higher ratio indicates the hood is kept open more of the time, while a hood that's always closed will have a ratio of 1.

Another heavy energy user is the freezer, which can consume as much energy per day as a single-family home. A freezer that's only 60% full or that's mostly used to store outdated samples no one will ever use isn't making the best use of that energy. Keeping and updating an inventory of samples, evaluating how much of a freezer's space is used, and collaborating with other labs in the building can help you evaluate freezer use and determine whether improvement is necessary.

Cell culture incubators, too, are significant energy users. Process intensification products like the Corning^® HYPERFlask cell culture vessel allow researchers to culture more cells per square inch of incubator shelf space, helping labs ensure that the energy consumed by each incubator goes a long way.

2. 能耗相关指标

跟踪设备能耗的另一种方式就是衡量设备使用的频率或程度。例如，通风橱每天的能耗相当于3.5户家庭的能耗，但调节门关闭时，能耗会大幅下降。实验室主管可以利用通风橱气流管理比值这一度量标准来了解调节门在通风橱未使用时是否已正确关闭，即调节门关闭时的平均流量 (立方英尺/分钟；cfm) 与最小流量的比值。这一比值越高，表明通风橱处于打开状态的时间越长，而对于始终关闭的通风橱，该比值为1。

冰箱是实验室中的另一个能耗大户，它每天的能耗相当于一户家庭的能耗。冰箱空间占用率未达60%或者主要用于存放不再需要的过时样品都属于未充分利用能源。记录并更新样品库存、评估冰箱空间占用率、与大楼内的其他实验室合作，这些举措有助于评估冰箱的使用情况并确定是否需要改进。

细胞培养箱同样是耗电王。利用Corning^® HYPERFlask超级细胞培养瓶等过程强化产品，研究人员能够在每平方英寸空间内培养更多细胞，有助于确保每台培养箱消耗的能源都能创造出更大产出。

3. 供应商碳足迹

供应商对可持续发展的承诺不尽相同。寻找已采取行动减少碳排放的供应商有助于实验室减少整体碳足迹。

越来越多的企业根据科学碳目标倡议 (SBTi) 制定碳排放目标。SBTi将碳排放源划分为范围1 (自有设施和车辆产生的直接排放)、范围2 (外购能源产生的排放) 和范围3 (企业采购和使用产品相关的间接排放)。寻找积极致力于实现SBTi目标的合作伙伴是提升实验室可持续性的有效方式。

康宁正通过多种举措以及合作伙伴关系，努力实现宏大的可持续发展目标。2023年，康宁的范围1、范围2以及范围3的减排目标已获SBTi认证。

4. 废弃物产生指标

实验室可以开展废弃物审计，以便了解实验室在一周内产生的可回收物、有害废物和无害废物的数量，并发现减少废弃物和改进回收措施的机会。

如果某一产品会产生大量废弃物，也许可以找到一种可重复使用、产生较少废弃物或使用较少包装的替代产品。有些供应商会推出包装材料或某类废弃物的回收计划。向供应商询问其产品是否使用了可回收材料或降低了材料使用量也是一种非常可取的做法。康宁公司位于世界各地的所有生产工厂和实验室均已获得或正在积极申请ISO 14001认证。这项自愿性标准规定了对环境管理体系 (EMS) 的要求。EMS可确保企业符合相关法律要求，同时还能不断提升企业的环境绩效，如提高能源和资源利用率、减少废弃物。