Dictionary domainTrack E
Sustainable research and laboratory operations
LEAF, My Green Lab, carbon footprint of research.
For implementers
Operational deployment checklist for Sustainable research and laboratory operations: prerequisites, five deploy steps, integration notes for Pure, Symplectic Elements, Worktribe, DSpace, and more, plus the pitfalls that recur in the field.
Terms in this domain
41 terms
Glove Compatibility Chart
A glove compatibility chart is a reference table, published by a glove manufacturer, distributor, or standards body, rating a specific glove product's resistance to specific named chemicals, typically as a breakthrough-time-based class (ANSI/ISEA 105's 0-6 scale, or an EN ISO 374 Type A/B/C letter code) derived from ASTM F739 or EN 16523-1 permeation testing. A table only qualifies as compatibility-grade data if it ties a named test method to a specific product, a specific chemical (not a category), and a time-based rating rather than a plain yes/no label; procurement and EHS teams use it, alongside Section 8 of the relevant Safety Data Sheet, as the documented basis for specifying which glove is fit for a given task.
Eyewash Station
<p>An eyewash station is emergency safety equipment that delivers a controlled, hands-free stream of flushing fluid to a person's eyes (or eyes and face) to remove a hazardous substance following an accidental exposure. In U.S. laboratory and facility procurement, "eyewash station" means specifically equipment designed and installed to meet <strong>ANSI/ISEA Z358.1</strong>, the voluntary consensus standard OSHA cites as the benchmark for the general duty created by <strong>29 CFR 1910.151(c)</strong> to provide "suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body." A device only counts as an eyewash station in this operational sense if it can deliver flushing fluid to both eyes simultaneously, hands-free, for a continuous 15-minute minimum, at a minimum flow rate of 0.4 gallons per minute (eyewash-only) or 3.0 gpm (eye/face wash) in the tepid 60-100°F (16-38°C) range Z358.1 specifies — a first-aid-kit eye-flush bottle or a sink does not meet this definition even though it can rinse an eye.</p>
Nitrile Glove Sizing: Chart, Fit, and Facility Size-Mix
Nitrile glove sizing is the mapping between a glove's dimensional designation (XS through XXL) and hand-circumference measurements, used both to fit an individual wearer and, for institutional buyers, to translate a facility's hand-size distribution into a purchase-order size split. Because ASTM D6319 and its counterpart exam-glove standards set performance requirements rather than a mandatory dimensional band per size label, the same size letter can differ measurably between manufacturers.
CGA Fittings
A CGA fitting is the standardized valve outlet/regulator inlet connection, identified by a CGA (Compressed Gas Association) three-digit number under CGA V-1 / ANSI B57.1, that is matched to a specific gas or group of compatible gases so that a regulator built for one gas cannot readily be connected to an incompatible one. It answers 'will this regulator connect to this cylinder,' a separate question from the gas identity or the cylinder size.
Compressed Gas Cylinder Sizes
A compressed gas cylinder size designation is the alphanumeric code (for example lecture bottle, size 150, size 200, size 300, or letter codes such as D, K, Q, and T) that gas suppliers use to describe a cylinder's physical dimensions (diameter and height), water capacity, and the resulting volume of gas it delivers at a given fill pressure. Labs use the designation, not the raw dimensions, to specify what to order because it determines storage footprint, how it fits in a gas cabinet or cylinder rack, how often it needs to be swapped or refilled at a given consumption rate, and which regulator and CGA fitting it takes.
ACT Label (ACT Ecolabel)
The ACT Label (ACT Ecolabel) is a product-level sustainability rating for laboratory equipment and consumables, administered by My Green Lab and independently validated by its third-party partner Verico. A product carries a genuine ACT Label only when it has a listed, verified entry in My Green Lab's ACT database with a weighted score out of 100 across categories such as energy use, materials, chemical hazards, and end-of-life impact — a manufacturer's own 'eco-friendly' marketing claim, without that database listing, does not qualify.
Shut the Sash
A behavioral/energy-conservation practice and campaign name instructing fume hood users to lower the sash to its closed or minimum-opening position whenever the hood is not in active use, reducing the volume of conditioned air a variable-air-volume (VAV) hood exhausts and, in turn, the lab's ventilation energy cost. Distinct from keeping the sash at its certified working height while actively using the hood, which is a separate safety practice.
Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC)
<p>The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) is a US-based membership nonprofit that develops purchasing guidance, criteria, and training to help institutional buyers embed sustainability considerations into procurement decisions. Members include research universities, hospital systems, government agencies, and corporations. SPLC organizes its guidance by purchasing category rather than by institution type; one of these categories, <strong>Laboratory Supplies and Services</strong>, sets out sustainability-related purchasing considerations specific to research-lab consumables, reagents, and equipment — including the energy use of cold storage and analytical instruments, packaging and take-back programs, hazardous-material substitution, and supplier sustainability disclosure.</p><p>An institution is 'using SPLC guidance' when its procurement office cites SPLC category resources or criteria in an RFP, supplier scorecard, or purchasing policy, or when staff complete SPLC training and certificate programs, or when the institution holds SPLC membership to access peer benchmarking data. SPLC itself does not certify individual products, suppliers, or laboratories — it is a guidance, standards-development, and training body, not an accreditation or certification scheme. That distinction matters for procurement officers evaluating standards bodies: a supplier or lab can point to SPLC-informed purchasing criteria in a policy document, but cannot hold an 'SPLC certification,' because SPLC does not issue one.</p>
Universal waste disposal requirements
A waste item is subject to universal waste disposal requirements — rather than full hazardous-waste rules — only if it falls into one of the categories EPA designates under 40 CFR Part 273 (batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, lamps, and, since 2019, aerosol cans, plus any categories a state adds) and the generator meets that rule's labeling, containment, and one-year accumulation-time-limit conditions. Items outside those designated categories remain fully regulated hazardous waste regardless of volume or apparent low risk.
Fume Hood
<p>A fume hood (also called a chemical fume hood) is a ventilated enclosure that captures, contains, and exhausts airborne hazardous vapors, gases, dust, and fumes generated by chemical work, drawing room air in through an open front (the sash) and expelling it — usually after passing through ductwork, and sometimes through filtration — outside the building or to a treatment system. It protects the <em>worker</em>, not the material inside it: contaminated room air is pulled away from the user's breathing zone rather than the hood creating a sterile or particle-free zone around the work. A device only counts as a fume hood, in the operational sense used across lab-safety programs, if it (1) has continuous mechanical exhaust ventilation drawing air inward through a face opening, (2) is tested and certified to maintain a minimum face velocity (commonly cited around 80–120 feet per minute under ANSI/AIHA Z9.5, the U.S. consensus standard for laboratory ventilation) rather than simply having a fan running, and (3) is used specifically to control chemical exposure — not biological aerosols and not sample contamination, which are the jobs of a biosafety cabinet and a laminar flow hood respectively.</p>
Second-Party Audit
A second-party audit is an audit an organization conducts, or commissions, against one of its own suppliers, contractors, or external providers — using the customer's own criteria (a contract, quality agreement, or specification) — to decide whether to qualify, continue, or remove that supplier, as distinct from a first-party (internal self-audit) or a third-party (independent certification/regulatory) audit.
Punchout Catalog
A punchout catalog is a live link between a buyer's e-procurement system (such as SAP Ariba, Coupa, or Jaggaer) and a supplier's own hosted online catalog. Instead of storing a static price list inside the buyer's system, the requester clicks a supplier tile inside the procurement portal, is redirected ("punched out") to that supplier's real-time storefront to browse and select items at negotiated contract pricing, then returns the completed shopping cart ("punched in") to the buyer's system as a structured requisition -- typically transmitted using the cXML or OCI protocol -- where it re-enters the institution's normal approval, budget-check, and purchase-order workflow.
ABRF (Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities)
ABRF (Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities) is the U.S.-based, membership professional association for people who operate, direct, staff, or support shared research core facilities and other biotechnology resource laboratories -- it is not a facility, funder, or accrediting body itself. Organized in 1988 and formally incorporated in Delaware in 1989, growing out of a 1986 gathering of protein-sequencing core operators, ABRF today counts more than 4,000 members representing 400+ member laboratories and administrative offices across government, academic, industrial, and commercial settings. Membership and participation in ABRF's Research Groups, annual meeting, and journal is what distinguishes 'the ABRF community' from the broader population of core-facility staff generally -- someone who runs a core facility without ever engaging with ABRF is still a core-facility professional, just not part of this specific association.
Lab equipment lifecycle assessment
A structured environmental impact assessment of a laboratory instrument or equipment item across all life-cycle stages, from raw-material extraction and manufacture through use, maintenance, and end-of-life.
Carbon accounting (research)
The systematic measurement, calculation, and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions across research activities, applying standard methodologies and emission factors to produce auditable CO2-equivalent totals.
Scope 1 / 2 / 3 emissions (research org)
The categorisation of a research organisation's greenhouse-gas emissions following the GHG Protocol: scope 1 (direct on-site combustion), scope 2 (purchased electricity, heat, steam, cooling), and scope 3 (indirect emissions across the value chain, including procurement, commuting, travel, and waste).
Climate impact statement (in DMP)
A structured section in a data management plan or research proposal that estimates and discusses the environmental impact of planned research activities, including travel, computing, equipment, consumables, and data storage.
Climate-aware funding
Research funding policies and award practices that explicitly incorporate climate and environmental sustainability considerations into eligibility, proposal review, and reporting.
Open infrastructure energy efficiency
The energy and carbon performance of shared, community-governed scholarly infrastructure (open repositories, identifier services, preservation systems), considered as part of the sustainability profile of the open scholarship ecosystem.
Sustainable procurement (research)
The process of purchasing research goods and services with explicit consideration of environmental, social, and governance criteria across the full supply chain, in addition to price and performance.
5R Framework (lab sustainability)
A hierarchical decision framework applied to laboratory consumables and waste: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle, considered in that order of preference.
Hybrid conference
A scholarly meeting that simultaneously supports in-person and remote participation, with intentional design choices to give remote attendees substantive interactivity rather than passive viewing.
Virtual conference
A scholarly meeting held entirely online, with no physical venue or in-person attendance, using video-conferencing, virtual poster halls, and asynchronous discussion channels.
Conference travel emissions
The subset of academic travel emissions specifically attributable to attendance at conferences, workshops, and scholarly meetings.
Travel emissions (academic)
The greenhouse gas emissions arising from academic business travel, principally air travel for conferences, fieldwork, collaboration visits, and external examining.
Carbon-aware computing
The practice of scheduling, shifting, or routing computational workloads in response to real-time grid carbon intensity, so that flexible jobs run when and where electricity emissions are lowest.
Energy proportionality (computing)
The property of computing systems whose energy consumption scales linearly with workload, so that idle or lightly utilised systems draw correspondingly little power.
Green software engineering
The discipline of designing, building, and operating software with explicit attention to its energy and carbon impact, as defined by the Green Software Foundation.
Sustainable HPC
High-performance computing operations and procurement choices that minimise energy use, carbon emissions, water use, and hardware waste while delivering scientific compute capacity.
Compute carbon footprint
The greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the electricity consumed by computational research activities, including local workstations, on-premises HPC clusters, and cloud or commercial compute services.
Research carbon footprint
The total greenhouse gas emissions (expressed in CO2-equivalent) attributable to research activity, encompassing direct laboratory energy use, computing, procurement, travel, and end-of-life of research equipment.
Lab waste audit
A structured exercise in which a laboratory measures and categorises the volume, type, and disposal route of waste generated over a defined period to identify reduction, re-use, and recycling opportunities.
Single-use plastic alternatives
Materials and product designs that substitute for traditional single-use polymer consumables in research workflows, including bio-based polymers, autoclavable glassware, reduced-plastic packaging, and refill-and-wash systems.
Reusable consumables
Laboratory items historically used once and discarded that are redesigned, repurposed, or substituted with multi-use alternatives, including washable tip-box racks, autoclavable glass tubes, refillable spray bottles, and washable lab coats.
Plastic waste (research lab)
The single-use and multi-use polymer waste generated by laboratory research activities, including pipette tips, tubes, plates, gloves, packaging, and serological pipettes, much of which is contaminated and routed to incineration rather than recycling.
-80 degC freezer management
The set of operational practices applied to ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers to minimise energy use, extend equipment life, and preserve sample integrity, including sample inventory control, temperature setpoint optimisation, and preventive maintenance.
Cold-storage energy (research)
The electrical energy consumed by research cold-storage equipment (-20 degC freezers, -80 degC ultra-low temperature freezers, liquid nitrogen Dewars, cold rooms) used to preserve biological, chemical, and reagent samples.
ULAB sample
An Unknown Long-Abandoned Biological sample, typically held in a freezer or cold-storage facility with no current owner, provenance record, or active research use, representing a major target for sustainability clean-out programmes.
Green Lab Certification
Any formal third-party assessment that verifies a laboratory meets defined sustainability criteria, most commonly issued by LEAF or My Green Lab.
My Green Lab
A US-based non-profit organisation and certification programme that assesses laboratory sustainability across behaviour, equipment, infrastructure, and culture, issuing tiered certifications used by pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic labs worldwide.
LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework)
A standards-based assessment framework developed by University College London that scores wet and dry laboratories on energy, waste, water, procurement, and research-quality practices, awarding Bronze, Silver, or Gold accreditation.
