Thirty-three UAB research labs participating in UAB’s Green Labs Program saved an estimated $150,000 in energy costs in 2024, according to a pilot project conducted by UAB Sustainability.

Overall, more than 150 UAB labs participate in the university’s voluntary Green Labs Program, a partnership between UAB Sustainability and UAB Environmental Health and Safety (both part of UAB Facilities). Labs that enroll start by completing a survey of their current energy efficiency efforts. Then they schedule an hourlong presentation with a Green Labs representative from UAB, who explains ways that labs can reduce their energy consumption, including shutting off equipment between uses and adding outlet timers to power down equipment outside operating hours.

In the pilot project, a Green Labs representative carried out a walk-through in each of the 33 labs to note the actions the lab was taking. That information, along with the square footage of the lab and the average energy used by the entire building, was combined to give an estimated energy savings. (Utility charges are allocated for buildings as a whole, which makes estimating necessary.)

“We were able to determine that our labs are indeed saving significant amounts of money through these small behavior changes,” said UAB Sustainability Lead Emily Colpack.“We were able to determine that our labs are indeed saving significant amounts of money through these small behavior changes,” said UAB Sustainability Lead Emily Colpack, who runs the Green Labs Program at the university. And having this information is essential, she added, “because it will lead to greater impacts.”

In the pilot project, Colpack sent each participating lab a visual explanation of its impact through the program. Many participants find it hard to picture how much they are accomplishing simply by “turning off items and unplugging equipment,” Colpack said. “Being able to tell a lab that they saved about 4.5 homes’ worth of electricity is much more impactful than saying ‘51,317 kilowatt-hours per year.’ Oftentimes, we will hear they did not realize how much they were accomplishing, and they are excited to keep up the great work and continue reducing how much electricity they use.”

Colpack says this pilot will be expanded to all participating Green Labs in the future. She encourages any research labs who have not already joined the program to send an email to greenlabs@uab.edu to start the process or ask any questions. She also encourages researchers to look out for the Green Labs sticker on neighboring labs and ask their colleagues about their experience in the program. “Researchers at UAB have learned that we are not trying to compromise their safety or research,” Colpack said. “Our priorities are safety, then research integrity, then energy savings, in that order.”