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At Harvard University, laboratories account for 21 percent of the 26 million-odd square feet of university real estate. Yet the labs consume 48 percent of the energy, says Jamie Bemis, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Green Program Coordinator at Harvard’s Office for Sustainability. “It’s a very energy-intensive space,” Bemis says—not to mention one that uses vast quantities of water and generates mountains of waste.
This situation is not unique to Harvard, of course. According to an essay by sustainability experts at the University of Texas at Austin, “Research laboratories are often the largest consumer of utilities at a research university.” Across the country, universities—motivated by a desire to be better global citizens, as well as to improve their bottom line—have established offices and undertaken ...
