This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Research labs are among the most energy-hungry facilities at universities worldwide. According to both University College London and a Swiss initiative called Green Lab, these labs require anywhere from three to 10 times more power than standard offices of the same size.
Scientists at EPFL are aware of this issue and seeking to reduce their carbon footprint—but it's not always easy to know what measures will be effective. For instance, would it be better to forgo a business trip, replace a piece of equipment, cut the lab's power use or update the building's insulation? Existing systems for measuring carbon emissions are hard to apply to research labs owing to the vast range of activities they host.
To overcome this obstacle, EPFL has developed a program called CO2 Calculator through a joint effort involving various departments and research labs. Staff at the sustainability unit spent several months incorporating the many emission sources into the program and running pilot tests the school's labs. The calculator was released in late September and is already being put to use across EPFL.
Other Swiss universities, including the University of Lausanne and ETH Zurich, are also taking an interest. "What's useful for a research team isn't just knowing their total emissions, but also being able to compare the emissions from different sources," says Agnès Le Tiec, head of EPFL Sustainability. To lighten the data-entry load for users, EPFL's CO2 Calculator automatically imports much of the data associated with a given research lab, such as its surface area, purchasing history and power use.
That means users only need to fill in the specifics, including any trips the researchers take, any specialty products they use, the lab and IT equipment, and any external cloud service providers. Calculations are based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol—an international standard for carbon emissions accounting. EPFL's CO2 Calculator gives scientists a detailed breakdown of their lab's carbon emissions so they can pinpoint where emissions-reduction steps can be taken and measure the effects of those steps from year to year.
"It gives us valuable input for making our decisions," says Véronique Michaud, head of EPFL's Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites. Her lab took part in the pilot tests and found that one of its biggest emitters was a space heater the team used to keep the room warm enough for running experiments and for the comfort of staff members. The team used the calculator to quantify the problem and add weight to their requests for building improvements.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
