Green Labs
Penn has over 676 labs in over 30 buildings and has an expanding lab footprint, including Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine. Each of these labs present significant opportunities to optimize labs for safety and sustainability. Penn’s Green Labs Program aims to support the lab community to achieve these savings.
Green Labs
Penn has over 676 labs in over 30 buildings and has an expanding lab footprint, including Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine. Each of these labs present significant opportunities to optimize labs for safety and sustainability. Penn’s Green Labs Program aims to support the lab community to achieve these savings.
At a Glance
The Green Labs Program at Penn aims to improve safety and sustainability through educating and empowering lab staff on best practices in labs.
The Office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety and the Penn Sustainability Office collaboratively support the Green Labs Program at Penn. The Green Labs Executive Committee helps guide and promote sustainable lab practices and opportunities.
Green Labs Executive Committee
The Green Labs program at Penn is guided by an Executive Committee comprised of representatives from the Office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety, Penn Sustainability, Procurement Services, and lab staff from across Penn. This committee helps run outreach efforts and engage labs in sustainable practices.
Green Labs Working Group
Penn Sustainability facilitates the Green Labs Working Group, which meets on a quarterly basis to discuss ways to make laboratory operations more sustainable. If you are interested in attending a meeting and/or being added to the email listserv, please contact sustainability@upenn.edu.
Ultra-Low Temperature Freezer Program
The Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) Freezer Efficiency Program was established to reduce the number of old and under-utilized freezers and provide an incentive for the purchase of highly efficient ULT freezers. The program includes incentives for both recycling existing freezers and purchasing new freezers.
Penn Freezer Challenge
The Penn Labs Freezer Challenge is designed to promote best practices in cold storage management. The Freezer Challenge covers all forms of cold storage, including refrigerators, freezers, and cold rooms. The challenge officially starts January 1, of each year and wraps up in Mid-April each year.
Reusable Sharps Container Program
The Reusable Sharps Container Program is available to all University laboratories for disposing of biohazardous sharps waste. This program eliminates the cost and waste associated with purchasing disposable containers, as well as the labor and energy associated with autoclaving the waste.
Lab Supplies and Equipment Disposal
The Penn Purchasing Services website offers additional information about recycling and reuse programs for various lab products, including USA Scientific TipOne racks and inserts, Corning product packaging, and Beckman Coulter centrifuges and rotors.
EHRS Chemical Inventory
Environmental Health and Radiation Safety requires all laboratories with hazardous chemicals to participate in the Chemical Inventory Program. This program allows labs to share chemicals, which minimizes waste and cuts down on costs.