艾娃·尤尔查克和凯瑟琳·汤普森在埃伯利科学学院雷蒙德·沙克的实验室里测量设备插头负载.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Sustainable Labs Program marked its second year with successes and expansion. 该计划为整个大学的实验室提供教育支持和交流机会, 帮助他们实施变革，提高能源和资源效率. Actions taken by participating labs are estimated to result in over $155,每年可为大学节省约2,000元，并减少约490吨的二氧化碳排放量.
Penn State partners with the nonprofit My Green Lab (MGL) 并利用联合国认可的认证项目来评估和解决14个行为改变的目标领域. 今年参与的29个实验室中有25个完成了MGL认证项目, and 17 of them ranked in the highest three categories: Green, Platinum and Gold.
今年, the program expanded to include labs at the 阿尔图纳, Behrend, 哈里斯堡和斯库尔基尔校区以及好时医学院. 它首次被纳入教学实验室:大学公园的一个生物教学实验室，每年约有5人入学,十大网投平台信誉排行榜斯库尔基尔分校的化学实验课程大约有25到50名学生.
除以2,000 labs from across the globe that have participated in the MGL program, 十大网投平台信誉排行榜一对一的本科生与研究实验室相匹配的参与式奖学金方法是独一无二的. 第二年的试点项目大大增加了本科顾问的人数，并对本科生和参与的研究小组都显示出了强大的吸引力和好处. Compared to only four students in the first year, 15 labs received student support, 另外还有两名学生回来试行一种新的同伴指导领导角色. 总共, over 400 researchers, lab staff and undergraduate students were engaged in this year’s program.
The University’s Sustainable Labs Program is hosted by Penn State Sustainability, in partnership with the Center for Nanoscale Science — a U.S. 国家自然科学基金资助材料研究科学与工程中心 — and multiple colleges. Begun in 2022, 该项目与十大网投平台信誉排行榜的目标一致，即通过关注研究实验室的变化，到2035年实现100%碳中和, 它们占校园面积的21%，却消耗了校园总能源的45%.
“Most of the changes to our lab practices were easy to implement, 比如提醒每个人在离开时关掉电脑或关灯,” said Corrine Smolen, 他是一名研究生，也是我在埃伯利理学院Santhosh girrajan实验室的绿色实验室协调员. “Even our more substantial changes, such as organizing our cold storage, benefited both our research and the environment. The real culture shift, which had a significant impact on me and the whole lab, was getting everyone to discuss sustainability."
Popular actions taken by participating labs included:
- 将有害化学品换成更环保的替代品，在化学品到期之前使用或共享化学品
- 在下订单前共享设备和检查产品库存，防止过度采购
- 在水龙头上安装曝气器，取消单道冷却，减少用水量, which in seven labs will save several million gallons of water annually
- Placing equipment on timers to reduce electricity plug loads
- Closing fume hood sashes when inactive
- 组织冷冻室样品以便快速检索和解冻冷冻室以提高效率
除了节省金钱和环境效益之外，这个项目还能产生效益, 一些实验室已经将数据收集结果纳入他们的研究中. Francesco Di Gioia, 农业科学学院蔬菜作物科学助理教授, 例如, 正在使用作为可持续实验室程序一部分的电表数据来比较和评估各种植物栽培系统的能源需求，并将这些发现纳入他的研究出版物中.
今年有15个参与的实验室分别由可持续实验室大使(SLA)提供支持。, 他是十大网投平台信誉排行榜可持续发展学院的一名有偿本科生，接受了可持续发展概念和安全方面的培训, effective communication and problem-solving strategies, project management approaches, and behavior change motivators. 每个人都运用这些知识和技能来支持研究人员改变实验室所选择的行为.
For some SLAs, this is their first time working in a research environment.
“作为一名SLA教师，我的经历教会了我如何在学术环境中保持可持续发展, which I feel gives me a more holistic understanding of sustainability,” explained Katherine Chu, 农业科学学院环境资源管理专业. “这也让我有机会与一群人一起设计适合他们需求的解决方案."
Penn State’s SLA program was recognized in 2023 by the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories 以表彰其独特的方式促进体验式学习和环境管理, and it continues to evolve. 今年, two returning SLAs became mentors to this year’s cohort, improving the student training while enhancing their leadership skills.
项目领导团队正在为明年的实验室和sla队列做准备. “在这一年里，我们学到了一些非常宝贵的经验，并建立了至关重要的伙伴关系," said 杰克Rumery, 宾州州立大学可持续发展教育和参与专家. “我们从实验室那里得到的热情回应让我们相信，十大网投平台信誉排行榜有很大的机会成为大学绿色实验室项目领域的领导者. The coming year will be a really pivotal step towards that vision.”
Any labs interested in participating next year should contact 杰克Rumery at [email protected].
