Throughout the 2021-2021 Spring and Summer Quarters, undergraduate and graduate student research assistants from Environmental Frontiers-Campus collaborated with faculty and staff to support University sustainability goals. Intending to give students a scientific and practical understanding of sustainable urban development, part of the Spring/Summer cohort of student researchers focused on the Campus Labs Project. University of Chicago laboratory buildings are responsible for 38% of campus energy use, even though they make up only 10% of campus building floor area. Therefore, energy conservation in campus labs is a core component of the University’s broader greenhouse gas emissions goal.

The researchers’ final report highlights best practices for energy efficient laboratory management and produced data-driven recommendations for the University, such as implementing behavioral change campaigns to decrease lab energy use. The EFCampus Labs teams created action plans for behavioral change campaigns. This document includes best practices and detailed action plans for two types of behavioral change initiatives: a “Shut the Sash” campaign targeting fume hoods and a laboratory decision making tool.  The laboratory decision making tool helps principle investigators understand the energy implications of equipment selections when building out a new laboratory space.  During the project, research assistants met with laboratory energy efficiency experts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to receive valuable feedback on tool development. According to an assessment completed by the EFCampus Labs Teams, the Gordon Center for Integrative Science (GCIS) and William Eckhardt Research Center (WERC) were found to be the most energy intensive laboratory facilities on campus. This suggests that they also have the biggest potential for energy savings, which makes them ideal candidates for implementing the next round of “Shut the Sash” campaigns along with Searle Chemistry. Of the two lab buildings, GCIS would be the focus since it houses a higher quantity of fume hoods as compared to WERC. This campaign will eventually be expanded to all laboratory buildings at UChicago to conserve energy and meet sustainability goals. 

This effort was sponsored by the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation Environmental Frontiers Campus (EFCampus), an initiative for student-faculty research and educational opportunities focused on environmental sustainability and urbanization.  Environmental Frontiers is also sponsored by the Robust Decision Making on Climate and Energy Policy (RDCEP), the Program on the Global Environment, Facilities Services, and the Office of Sustainability.  A special thank you to EFCampus collaborators Briana Morales, Peyton Sandborn, Sivana Montagu, Yunyan Mo, and Chelsea Pauga for their tremendous efforts and enthusiasm.  Their contributions will be instrumental in improving University of Chicago laboratory energy efficiency. 

The University of Chicago is a proud United States Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR® Partner, collaborating with peer institutions to reduce higher education campus energy and water usage. The goal of this energy efficiency program is to: (1) reduce the impact on the environment as about 70 percent of University greenhouse gas emissions are from energy usage in campus buildings; (2) redirect funds currently going to utility providers back into the maintenance of our campus buildings; and (3) reduce the risk of disruption to our educational and research mission by locating and correcting issues before systems and components in our buildings fail. More than 300 energy efficiency measures have been completed in the University of Chicago campus buildings since 2009, and buildings will continue to be a primary target of our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use.