Green Labs

Green Labs

The My Green Lab Certification program is an internationally recognized best-practice sharing and verification program. It is designed to give laboratories actionable ways to increase environmental performance through a continuous improvement process.

Green Labs at Georgia Tech

The Georgia Tech Office of Sustainability led the initiation of My Green Lab Certification. The pilot program was officially launched in Spring of 2024 following six months of planning and collaboration with Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff. The pilot focuses on certification for three labs on campus: the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience’s Molecular Evolution Core Facility, the Instructional Labs within the School of Biological Sciences, and Dr. Shuichi Takayama’s research lab. Researchers will work on implementing energy-efficient practices, responsible procurement procedures, etc., and a thorough examination of current chemical and laboratory supply usage.

Interested in My Green Labs? Email: sustain@gatech.edu

Topics Covered

The My Green Lab Certification program covers 14 topics spanning energy, water, waste, chemistry/materials, and engagement.

The program encourages the adoption of individual behavioral changes that support greater sustainability in labs. It also provides a framework for integrating changes to the workspace and equipment maintenance to be more energy, water, and waste efficient with lab resources. 

Steps

Baseline Assessment Survey

Using an online self-assessment survey, My Green Lab asks individual members of the participating lab a series of questions— covering topics such as how they use and maintain equipment, the techniques they employ, and how they purchase, use, and dispose of products. Using these responses, the program helps to identify best practices already in place and recommend steps that the lab could take to adopt additional sustainability best practices.

Implement Changes

Using recommendations from My Green Lab as guidelines, the program encourages the lab personnel to take some time (typically ~6 months) to make changes in their laboratory, enlisting the help of their organization’s sustainability team, safety, facilities, or EH&S teams (if applicable).

Certification

After a number of changes are made, members of the lab retake the online self-assessment survey. The extent of progress in adopting best practices in the lab through the responses provided is quantified. Subsequently, the lab receives an overall score (in percentage) and a certification level. The lab receives new recommendations for further improvements to make before they seek re-certification in two years (the certification is valid for two years).

Implement More Changes

After the initial certification, the lab must re-certify within two years to maintain their certified status. Labs can come back sooner (within one year) if they want to check in on their progress more regularly.

Re-Certification

When the lab is ready for re-certification, they retake the online self-assessment survey to see what best practices are still implemented and where they might make future changes. By making this a continuous improvement process, labs can make continual changes and gauge how well the sustainability best practices are being passed on to newer members of the lab— and consequently, to what extent sustainability has become part of the lab culture.​

Special Thanks To

Campus Units

  • Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences at Georgia Tech (IBB)
    • Molecular Evolution Core Laboratory
  • School of Biological Sciences
  • Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Georgia Tech Infrastructure and Sustainability
    • Georgia Tech Environmental Health and Safety
    • Georgia Tech Office of Sustainability

Individuals

  • Anton Bryksin, Regents’ Researcher, IBB
  • Shweta Biliya, Research Scientist II, IBB
  • Jennifer Chirico, Associate Vice President of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability
  • Adam Fallah, Laboratory Technician, IBB
  • Katherine Nguyen, Graduate Student, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Alison Onstine, Laboratory Manager I, School of Biological Sciences
  • Steve Place, Campus Sustainability Project Manager, Office of Sustainability
  • Shuichi Takayma, Price Gilbert Chair in Regenerative Engineering and Medicine, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Michelle Wong, Senior Director of Business Operations, IBB
  • Steven Woodard, Director of Research Operations, IBB
  • Alicia Wood-Jones, Lab & Chemical Safety Officer, Environmental Health & Safety