Climate change caused by global warming is now one of the biggest threats to humanity, and many of its effects are already being experienced around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C, net-zero emissions must be reached by 2050.1
Agilent is proud to announce that by continuing to implement changes to our water and energy use, waste production, and CO2 emissions, we will achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by this deadline. Much of our focus is based on improving the sustainability of our labs, as laboratory buildings are widely recognized as one of the highest energy consumers per surface area.2
Acting on this initiative, in 2022, the Agilent Center of Excellence (CoE) laboratory in Santa Clara, California, received a “green” My Green Lab Certification—the highest ranking of this gold-standard certification for lab sustainability best practices.
Lee Ingvaldson, Presales Application Engineering Manager at the CoE lab in Santa Clara, played a pivotal role in leading the team through the certification.
“It was a great opportunity for an Agilent CoE lab to participate in the My Green Lab Certification program. Sustainability is a very important aspect of Agilent, and there is a growing interest from our customers to learn more about how we can support them through their sustainability journey,” Lee said.
Lee (LI) shared more about the certification process, how it impacted lab practices, and what it means for our customers.
Q: What process was involved in attaining the My Green Lab Certification?
LI: Here in Santa Clara, it was a top-down approach from the Agilent senior executives to the lab staff that instigated the process for obtaining the My Green Lab Certification, and I volunteered to lead the team through the certification.
The start of the process involved an initial survey, which was completed by the CoE application scientists and support staff over a period of two weeks. The survey asked various questions about how activities in the lab are performed regarding areas like water usage, power, chemicals, waste, lighting, and air conditioning, for example.
A few weeks after we submitted the initial survey, we were given the results. The results were totalled using a five-point scoring system for each question, with a maximum score of 100. The CoE lab scored 45 out of 100 in the first survey, which we were eager to improve upon. For the low-scoring questions, My Green Lab provided detailed information about the areas we could improve in to become more sustainable.
Using the survey results, we assembled small groups of Agilent scientists, engineers, and support staff to brainstorm ideas to improve sustainability in the low-scoring areas, and we promptly implemented these changes.
After maintaining our new sustainable practices for several months, we took the My Green Lab survey again. This time, we scored much higher—we achieved 88 out of 100, which gave us the “green” certification.
Q: How successful was the initial survey at highlighting areas of improvement?
LI: It was interesting to receive the first round of results because there was a tremendous amount of information that My Green Lab provided. They evaluated where we scored high and low, and offered many recommendations to improve our sustainability—it was very comprehensive. It challenged many of us in our thinking about how a lab needs to operate.
For example, many of us were under the impression that the lab always needs to be at an exact stable temperature for optimal instrument performance; but, we learned from the survey that there is an acceptable temperature range that the instruments can operate under. This meant that we were able to alter the air conditioning on the weekends, for example, to save energy.
Overall, My Green Lab were incredibly helpful throughout the process. If we had any questions, they would respond within a few hours with the answers.
Q: What was your team’s approach to the issues raised in the survey?
LI: Each group was allocated a particular issue to address, and would meet once every couple of months to brainstorm potential strategies to implement. As a result of these sessions, we altered several of our usual practices and maintained these changes until the second survey and thereafter.
The whole team was extremely supportive of the certification and the process. The issues raised fostered new ways of thinking about their familiar day-to-day practices, and triggered questions such as, “Can we change this to become more environmentally sustainable, without compromising the quality of our science?”
Q: What was achieved and what impact has the survey had on practices now?
LI: Many small changes culminated to have a large impact on the lab’s overall sustainability. For example, being more flexible with the air conditioning and making sure all the lights were turned off at the end of the day were things we changed for the better. Personally, I hadn’t considered how much water we were using, and this is something we consciously improved.
Another change was to the amount of mobile phase we prepared for an LC/MS experiment. We’ve always used 1 L bottles to make up a mobile phase, but we questioned, “Is that necessary?” Our methodologies and applications have changed over the years, so less mobile phase is needed now. Therefore, the team started preparing 250 or 500 mL of mobile phase instead, with the aim of reducing solvent waste.
Ultimately, I think the biggest impact of the certification was creating awareness of what is happening in the lab and what could be improved. In the lab, I think you tend to get into the routine you’ve had for years without considering if you could or should change anything. But the survey made us think, “Do we still have to do this the way we did it years ago?”
I believe the team became personally connected to the process and the purpose of it; their attitude embodied Agilent’s culture shift toward sustainability. It wasn’t simply a case of “I need to do it this way now.” Instead, everyone gained an awareness of why changing certain practices would be better for the environment—and that motivated people to maintain them.
Overall, we managed to improve our sustainability in all areas that the survey covered. We plan to recertify two years on from the second survey, which will be in October 2024. Since the certification, we’ve had other labs in Santa Clara become interested in this process, which is great to see.
Q: How have Agilent customers been impacted by the My Green Lab Certification at Santa Clara?
LI: We now have a placard highlighting our My Green Lab Certification when you enter the CoE lab, which we’re very proud of. It’s one of the first things that we discuss with customers who come to tour the lab. Many customers are interested and ask about these programs; they’re really engaged with what we’re doing to help protect our planet.
We also display our instruments that have been independently audited for My Green Lab’s Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency (ACT) label, and this is a talking point for our customers. The ACT label provides information about the environmental impact of manufacturing, using, and disposing of a product and its packaging, enabling purchasers to make more informed, sustainable choices.
To see that an independent third party has given certification of our lab and select Agilent instruments gives our customers the confidence that they are purchasing solutions from an environmentally conscious company that provides trusted answers. Our customers care about protecting the environment and appreciate Agilent’s collective sustainability efforts, which inspires industry transformation.
Lee is confident that the lab will recertify in October 2024 and is thankful that the certification process has helped reduce the CoE’s environmental footprint.
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