How IoT Optimizes These Four Zones for Greener Labs
Mapping out the sustainable lab of the future can seem like a massive undertaking. To make it easier, we’ve developed a how-to for helping labs go green in four zones across facilities. Think big while starting small with the Internet of Things (IoT) solutions:
Zone #1 - Energy Efficiency:
Power-intensive lab equipment such as ultra-low temperature freezers (ULT), fume hoods, and centrifuges can use as much energy as three households and produce CO2 emissions equal to six cars annually.
Ultra-Low Temperature Freezers: Running one ULT freezer can consume approximately 16-25 kWh per day, producing 5.1 metric tons of CO2 annually. Go Green: Leverage IoT to remotely monitor cold storage temperatures and implement conservation protocols confidently, like increasing set points from –80° C to –70° C, reducing energy consumption by 28%.
Fume Hoods: A single fume hood can use as much energy as 3.5 homes per year. Go Green: By combining contact sensors to monitor fume hood sashes and presence sensors to infer utilization, labs can inform corrective measures to ensure sashes are closed when not in use, cutting carbon emissions and operational costs.
Centrifuges & Incubators: High-speed centrifuges and low-temperature incubators can use significant energy. Go Green: Leverage IoT-enabled power monitoring and asset utilization data to identify opportunities to turn off energy-draining equipment when not in use, guide investment in energy-efficient alternatives, and optimize utilization of power-hungry equipment through asset sharing and improved scheduling.
Equipment Maintenance: Malfunctioning equipment works overtime to achieve the same function, burning through resources, wasting power, and contributing to higher energy consumption. Go Green: IoT-powered equipment monitoring solutions enable proactive maintenance, helping labs increase energy efficiency. Using IoT sensors to monitor power, temperature, and vibration, labs can detect performance anomalies and proactively address equipment needs before they occur, reducing consumption.
Zone #2 - Smart Inventory Management:
Overordering lab equipment and supplies leads to overstocking, expired chemicals, and unnecessary waste.
Chemical Management: Inefficient inventory management contributes notably to laboratory waste—averaging $7,000 a month in expired chemicals alone for some labs—leading to financial losses and harmful environmental implications. Go Green: IoT-enabled chemical tracking provides real-time visibility into active inventory and asset location within the floor plan. This helps prevent over-ordering and unnecessary waste or expired chemicals due to lack of inventory knowledge.
Asset Tracking: Lack of asset insight can lead to an increased carbon footprint, lab inefficiencies and wasted resources—a significant and complex problem for labs, as indirect (Scope 3) emissions account for 80-90% of the pharma sector’s total climate impact. Go Green: Leverage IoT-driven tracking and utilization data to more efficiently locate assets for maintenance schedules, reducing carbon emissions from repeat technician travel. Plus, utilize asset insights to validate purchases, preventing surplus ordering, contributing to overproduction, unnecessary transportation emissions, and waste.
Zone #3 – Sustainable Waste Management:
Laboratories generate enormous amounts of waste annually, highlighting the importance of proper waste management and disposal.
Recycling / Waste Disposal: Laboratories can have a massive environmental impact, from air pollution due to poor waste management practices to carbon emissions produced by improper waste disposal. Go Green: Optimize waste collection processes with waste-fill level monitoring, enabling needs-based waste collection to reduce carbon emissions, ensure proper waste handling, and support long-term sustainability.
Smart Restrooms: In a bustling lab environment across an expansive campus, manual custodial checks—from maintenance of a sink malfunction to a paper restock—can be time-consuming, resulting in wasted efforts and resources. Go Green: Enabling smart restroom technology helps facilities reduce waste while boosting workflow efficiency. With automated, real-time alerts, facilities can reduce unnecessary custodial checks by up to 95% and reduce paper waste by up to 50%.
Zone #4 – Water Conservation:
Undetected leaks can lead to immense water waste, costly damage, and downtime.
Laboratory Leak Detection: Laboratories can use up to five times more water than comparable commercial buildings—and while water usage is an unavoidable reality in life sciences, water waste doesn’t have to be. Don’t add to high water usage by letting a leak go undetected, causing an immeasurable impact on the lab’s carbon footprint and budget. Go Green: With IoT-powered leak detection, labs can prevent unnecessary water waste by proactively detecting and addressing water leaks before they become catastrophic—avoiding experimental delays, lost research, and costly repairs.
Ready to make your lab’s blueprint greener? Contact us to learn how to get started with small changes today.
