CU Green Labs Program

The CU Green Labs Program uses a team approach to minimize the use of energy, water, material goods and hazardous chemicals in CU Boulder laboratories and promotes efficient, effective use of research equipment and laboratory space.

Contact CU Green Labs  Meet Our Team 

 

Lab Best Practices

Energy | Water | Waste | Solvent Re-Use

Learn what our labs do to be sustainable and efficient in every way.

 

Lab Members

Become a Leader | 4 things lab members can do

Learn how to get more involved as a lab member.

 

Social Justice

Discover climate and social injustices in labs and what actions are being taken to overcome these issues.

 

Resources for Green Labs Community

Outreach materials, contests, metering data and other resources.

 

Highlighted Lab Programs

Check out programs happening in a lab near you.

Freezer Program
Financial Incentives for Efficient Equipment
CU Green Labs Award Program
Green Chemistry Education
CU Green Labs in the News

 

Efficient Labs Benefit Funding, Our Community and the Environment

 

Labs are important for innovation but also are large resource consumers

CU Boulder major research buildings use ~40% of campus building energy use while only occupying ~20% of campus square footage. Lab research often utilizes large amounts of water, chemicals, and single-use plastics.

 

Cost avoidance, resources, and savings

  • Lab space optimization helps campus avoid unnecessary labspace construction.

  • Energy and water saving best practices by researchers reduces utility use.

  • Equipment sharing minimizes the purchase of duplicative instrumentation

 

Metrics

2009-2025

   Electricity Savings: 16.25 GWh | $1.79 million at $0.11/kWh

   Water Savings: 81 million gallons | $196,500 at $2.42/Kgal

   Lab Solid Waste Diversion: 625,000 lbs

   Solvents Reused: 3,690 gallons

   Shared Equipment: $3 million in avoided purchases

 

CU Green Labs is known for its posters which share information on sustainability in lab environments and best practices.

 View Green Labs posters

Read our Vision and Mission Statement  Benefits of CU Green Labs 

Jointly funded by Facilities Management and the Environmental Center since 2009

Green Labs Events

See more events