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Sustainable Labs

Lab sustainability aims to foster health safety, resource efficiency and waste reduction strategies to minimize the environmental footprint while promoting scientific advancement. Labs account for nearly 44% of energy use at Harvard but take up only around 20% of the space. The Office for Sustainability works with researchers, staff, faculty, and building managers to implement sustainable practices and technologies in lab buildings.

Shut the Sash

  • The “Shut the Sash” chemical fume hood competition started in 2005 within Harvard’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
  • The “Shut the Sash” competition promotes keeping fume hoods closed when not in use to reduce high energy consumption.
  • The initiative expanded to include 19 labs and over 350 researchers, resulting in substantial energy savings and improved lab safety. This makes the “Shut the Sash” competition Harvard’s most impactful behavioral change program for energy conservation.
Labs in the the Shut the Sash Competition are provided feedback in real-time on their fume hood energy use via digital displays reporting cubic-feet-of-air-per-minute (CFM) flow, with signage indicating how that number connects with the lab group's customized goal.

White Papers

These white papers provide detailed insights into how Harvard leads the charge toward healthier, more sustainable labs.

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External Partnerships & Collaborations

Quentin Gilly, Assistant Director, FAS Energy and Sustainability with the Office for Sustainability, and President of the I2SL New England Chapter, (right), leads a tour of I2SL members through the Science and Engineering Complex in the fall of 2022.
Quentin Gilly, Assistant Director, FAS Energy and Sustainability with the Office for Sustainability, and President of the I2SL New England Chapter, (right), leads a tour of I2SL members through the Science and Engineering Complex in the fall of 2022.

Partnerships and collaborations on lab sustainability topics are important both internally and externally.

  • The Office for Sustainability partnered with the City of Cambridge on a multi-year city-wide laboratory benchmarking exercise, which was the largest and most consistent benchmarking dataset of its type ever to be collected from a local area. OFS has also partnered with the City of Cambridge Compact and the Boston Green Ribbon Commission.
  • We partner with the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) on the sharing of best practices and through planning events and lab tours with the New England Chapter.
  • We collaborate with non-profits such as Seeding Labs, My Green Lab, and The Lab Project to lead in making lab sustainability a reality, and with vendors such as Eversource Energy and Green Labs Recycling to pilot innovative technologies aimed at decarbonizing the built environment and reducing waste on campus.

Upcoming Events

Sustainability Events at Harvard

April

25

Multi-day Event

Open to the Public

Algamatrix Exhibition – The Future of Homes: Algae, Sensors, and the Next Generation of Domestic Space

Student Grants

What if future homes responded to nature and the material intelligence of living systems? This exhibition explores emerging approaches to domestic space that prioritize sustainability, adaptability, and sensory engagement. Featuring inflatable algae-based modules, the installation explores responsive interiors. Sensor devices suggest how future homes might intuitively engage with their environment.

May

21

Wednesday
8:00 am-5:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to Harvard Community

Apply by May 21: Harvard Climate Entrepreneur’s Circle

Harvard Innovation Lab

Building a climate venture? Harvard-affiliated? The Harvard Climate Entrepreneur’s Circle is a selective, year-long incubator program for high-potential ventures addressing climate change. We offer tailored support, including expert office hours, pro-bono legal assistance, and media support. Prior ventures range across a range of technology and business solutions, including XCharge, Subject2Climate, EarthAcre. Eligible ventures must demonstrate one or more key milestones: active users, written partnerships, funding/donations, or established intellectual property. Apply now by May 21. Questions? Please mail i-labclimate@harvard.edu 

April

25

Multi-day Event

Green AI Summit 2025

Sustainable IT

The Green AI Summit, hosted by Harvard Undergraduate AI and Sustainability Group, co-sponsored by Boston University Center for Information and Systems Engineering (CISE), brings together global leaders, researchers, and innovators to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability. As AI technology continues to shape the world, the Green AI Summit serves as a critical platform to address the environmental and social impacts of these advancements and to champion responsible development practices.

April

30

Wednesday
2:00 pm-3:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to Harvard Community

Springtime & Sustainability at the Arnold Arboretum

Arnold Arboretum
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Learn about Harvard’s “Museum of Trees” and what it takes to keep North America’s first public arboretum open to all. Presented by Danny Schissler, Head of Operations and Project Management at the Harvard University Arnold Arboretum. Join us on Wednesday, April 20, from 2-3 pm at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Building 2, Room 102 (Harvard ID required), or join via Zoom at hsph.me/arnoldarboretumsustainability.

April

28

Monday
12:00 pm-1:00 pm GMT+0000

Students, Schools and Our Climate Moment

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Attend this talk in which Laura A. Schifter and Jonathan Klein highlight the many ways in which K-12 schools and students have tremendous potential to advance solutions on environmental issues, and they provide frameworks for enacting change, in Students, Schools, and Our Climate Moment. Schifter and Klein demonstrate how the effects of climate change intersect with US public schools on multiple levels—for example, schools must prepare students to face the challenges of an uncertain future, accommodate disruptions brought about by extreme weather conditions, and evaluate their systems’ energy consumption and carbon emissions.