In particular, every piece of equipment that heats or cools down is very energy-demanding.

Besides cold storage units and autoclaves, pay special attention to ovens, dryers, incubators, heating blocks, water baths, and chilling centrifuges. Still, don’t disregard smaller equipment, office equipment, and lightning.

What to do?

• Make a collective decision in the lab on which pieces of equipment and lights should be turned off after use, turned off at the end of the day, and left on all the time. Come up with signage to call the attention of users to these measures. As a suggestion, you can download the i3S GreenLab Initiative equipment labels below.

• Consider using timers to automatically turn off/on high energy-demanding equipment that may be off during the night. 

• Avoid using half-full ovens or incubators. Instead, try to share this type of equipment with other users.

• Extend the lifetime of equipment by following the manufacturer’s use instructions and promoting regular maintenance.

• Before buying new equipment, evaluate if you can borrow from other researchers. 

• Optimize the sharing of your equipment using online booking systems.

• Sell or donate your old equipment to labs in need.