S-Lab: Safe, Successful and Sustainable Laboratories
NEW - The first S-Lab Conference, The Effective Laboratory - Safe, Successful and Sustainable Laboratories - will be held on 12-13 June 2012 at the National Science Learning Centre in York. This will bring together key stakeholders in lab design, operation and use. A new S-Lab Awards scheme will also be launched in 2012. The Awards aim to recognise good practice in lab design, operation and management in all sectors (and in lab-based teching and learning within educational institutions). Download advance information about the conference and awards below. Further details will be available in early 2012.
The S-Lab programme aims to create more sustainable laboratories, and to raise sustainability awareness amongst lab-using staff and students (see the Overview section for more discussion of this). It is mainly financed by the four UK higher education funding bodies (HEFCE, HEFCW, SFC and DELNI) through the Leadership, Governance and Management fund, with additional support from the Carbon Trust and others. It has three streams of work:
- Laboratory design (working in partnership with owners and suppliers, and in collaboration with the US Labs 21 initiative);
- Laboratory operation (working closely with lab managers and technicians);
- Laboratory users (working closely with staff and students).
S-Lab emphasises the synergies between safety, business success and sustainability rather than compartmentalising and/or seeing them as competing with each other. Although its centre of gravity is in universities, it also supports action in private and public sector laboratories, and is keen to build links with them.
Current S-Lab activities include:
- Running events to profile good practice, discuss key issues and develop networks;
- Laboratory Energy Audits - detailed audits to show where the energy in labs is going and identify improvement opportunities - this has been developed in conjuction with the Universities of Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, York and Cambridge Universiies. The results are now available in the final report;
- A Laboratory Assessment Framework to gauge environmental performance and associated Environmental Good Practice Guide. The assessment framework has been incorporated into the 2012 NUS Green Impact Scheme.
Downloads:
S-Lab Conference Flyer
S-Lab Awards Flyer
S-Lab Awards Draft Stage 1 Application Form
