I want to invite you to register for our annual online summit, where you’ll get a complete step-by-step guide and an Excel template for quantifying your lab’s impacts.
I spent quite a few hours putting these together because I thought they would make your life much easier.
There’s more to say about them, which is why I’ll be sharing them in our summit!
But what if your goal is to convince leadership to take action? Here are my tips on how you should go about it.
Today's Lesson: Convincing to Quantify
How we can get support for creating numbers
Number Of The Day
Because Harvard University quantified their fume hood sash opening times and average volume flow, they were able to estimate that their “Shut the Sash” program saves approximately $225,000 every year. They also estimate that reliably shutting a sash saves around $1,140 per hood. Allowing them to compare these savings to automatically closing hoods and generate some press around the initiative.
225 000
Convincing Leadership To Quantify
I am a big advocate for quantifying the savings - in a previous lesson, I wrote about how you can do so and what to look for.
In essence, there are 6 factors we can quantify: Plastics/Items, Energy, Water, Chemicals, Travel, Gases (Time, Money, Publications).
However, at some point we need support from our superiors, if not the institutional leadership. How do you get it?
Instead of waiting for them to do so or plainly asking, I would argue you need to share with them the following three points:
A) The Advantages of Quantifying
Quantifying footprints doesn’t sound very attractive. Therefore, you have to show how it will benefit them. Numbers open doors that arguments alone cannot.
Saving Money Setting ULT freezers to -70°C can reduce electricity consumption by 25%, directly lowering electricity bills. Sterilizers offer similar saving potential.
This data are taken from Farley et al. "Efficient ULT freezer storage". Note that for different models these numbers will vary but you can expect saving around 20-30% when increasing temperature by 10°C.
Extending Equipment Lifetime When PCR holding temperatures are increased or freezers are regularly defrosted to save energy, it automatically extends the lifetime of the equipment. Especially for freezers, this is an important point for sample safety.
Doing Good for Their Institute When scientists see their quantified impact, they are more motivated to review and improve protocols - something that is often overlooked in academic settings. > It provides a tangible incentive to cut unnecessary steps, reuse materials where possible, and streamline lab routines. That means significant time savings, which lead to more productivity and potentially better work-life balance. Less spending on plastic, antibodies, and reagents also means more money for other science.
Scientists in a microbiology and chemical laboratory have shown savings in the four-digit ranges. However, when quantification is supported or even conducted by the leadership, it only demonstrates buy-in and support from the top down, it also provides a clear incentive for other scientists to take action. Furthermore, once data is available, prioritization of the largest impacts becomes possible. Finally, it enables comparisons, allowing you to assess whether changes have actually been effective.
Funding & Regulation ome funding bodies such as Wellcome or the DFG ask for sustainable practices when considering funding. Regulation may soon make reporting obligatory in Europe. Quantification is a great way to back up actions with concrete numbers.
Creating External Recognition Finally, quantified results can be communicated to build reputation. A story like “Institute XYZ saved $10,000 and 3 tons of CO₂ in a year” makes for compelling press and enhances institutional branding.
B) How to Do It Without Much Effort
Many people hesitate because they think quantification means endless data collection and a lot of technical detail. However, getting useful data can be much simpler.
Take incubators as an example. Estimating their footprint is relatively simple. Even rough energy measurements with a plug meter or based on the ACT-label provide a good estimation. Once you have that data, you can extrapolate across the entire institute.
Travel is one of the simplest areas to quantify. Record all travel whenever reimbursements are claimed.
A central Excel sheet (or similar) can capture the following details:
Destination | Travel mode (e.g., flight, train, car) | Transport to airport/station (e.g., taxi, public transport) | Travel date(s)
Then, it is simple to let a script calculate the footprint (even ChatGPT will do it for you now with its Agent mode). Savings here are needed.
Data on water use, heating fuel/gas, and lab gases (e.g., helium, liquid nitrogen) can be easily read from metering reports or invoices.
Finally, while I would not advise estimating plastic and item impact from spend (if you pay more, you appear to have higher impacts, even if your item is more sustainable), weighing waste or using AI to crawl through all orders of a month are possible workarounds.
You will learn all of the effective short cuts if you register for our freesummit!
C) How to Communicate Actions
Quantification is valuable because it turns sustainability into something visible, shareable, and relatable. Too many institutions miss that opportunity but you can use it for:
Publications: Even small case studies—like optimizing one experiment or reducing the consumption of one core facility—can be published, building a track record.
Whether the paper by (Thomas) Freese et al. or the famous Urbina et al. paper, several scientists have used their chance to get another paper out by quantifying the impacts and savings of their labs.
Press and Social Media: Institutes love to showcase measurable success. Numbers attract attention, and stories backed by data are powerful tools for branding and reputation.
Funding and Partnerships: Demonstrating measurable efficiency gains positions your institute as forward-thinking, increasing its appeal to funders and collaborators.
Applying The Knowledge
Here’s how I would go about it, because an email is easily overlooked:
Take this lesson to your group leader or superior. Make a small bet with them: if this lesson convinces them, they’ll order a plug meter for you.
This is a common plug-in meter on the left and a portable clamp meter on the right. For your purpose, a plug-in-meter will probably be more appropriate.
Start with something simple, like measuring the energy use of your PCR cyclers.
Quantify straightforward changes - for example, saving tips in pipetting your PCR, not leaving the cycler idle, or increasing holding temperatures as discussed in earlier lesson.
Once you have the data, write an email to your leadership. Share how much energy the PCR cyclers consume and provide an extrapolation for the entire institute.
Highlight not just the environmental savings but also the reductions in plastic waste, money, and potentially saved time.
I can only advise you to find examples like this to make your savings relatable. This estimate is based on an MS from Waters, described in this lesson.
Then, try to get a face-to-face conversation. Not only will it help build your network, but it is often much faster and more effective.
Share this lesson and, ideally, the one on instrument savings to show what is possible.
And, if it helps - if you, dear decision-maker, are reading this - I offer to post about your savings on my LinkedIn account, endorsing you and making a few thousand people aware of your actions.
Upcoming Lesson:
Planning Sustainability
How We Feel Today
References
Kreil, A.S., 2021. Does flying less harm academic work? Arguments and assumptions about reducing air travel in academia. Travel Behaviour and Society, 25, pp.52–61. doi:10.1016/j.tbs.2021.04.011.
Alves, J. et al., 2020. A case report: insights into reducing plastic waste in a microbiology laboratory. Access Microbiology, 3(3).
doi:10.1099/acmi.0.000.
Kilcoyne, J. et al., 2022. Reducing environmental impacts of marine biotoxin monitoring: A laboratory report. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 1(3), e0000001. doi:10.1371/journal.pstr.0000001.
Freese, T., 2024. The relevance of sustainable laboratory practices. RSC Sustainability. doi:10.1039/D4SU00056K.
If you have a wish or a question, feel free to reply to this Email. Otherwise, wish you a beautiful week! See you again on the 4th : )
Edited by Patrick Penndorf Connection@ReAdvance.com Lutherstraße 159, 07743, Jena, Thuringia, Germany Data Protection & Impressum If you think we do a bad job: Unsubscribe
Personal Note From Patrick, The Editor Hi Reader, let me quickly follow up on something we discussed last week. I’ve put together an (almost) exhaustive list of ways to make your HPLC more sustainable - you can take a look here. As you might know, I provide consulting for labs and institutes. And to inspire you, let me share the most creative practices I observed during my last job: Today's Lesson: A Sustainable Lab-Walk Through Showing you what a sustainable lab can look like Number Of The...
Personal Note From Patrick, The Editor Hi Reader, I hope you are doing well! I found that there is little discussion about making instruments in your lab more sustainable. This has always surprised me. There is so much potential and several companies are continuously innovating. However, limited experience and expertise might often be the restricting factors. Therefore, I have put together an overview for you - including concrete examples for HPLC and some other instruments: Today's Lesson:...
Personal Note From Patrick, The Editor Hi Reader, imagine there were an exhaustive checklist for sustainable practices. Recently, I consulted a research institute and as part of my services compiled a list of all the sustainable actions I could identify. I thought this might be of great value to you as it is a compilation of actions that have been safely adopted by other scientists. Here is how you can use it for your own lab: Today's Lesson: A List Of Practices For You What we can do to make...
