Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 76.52
Liaison Maria Kirrane
Submission Date July 28, 2022

STARS v2.2

University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
IN-19: Green Laboratory Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Pat Mehigan
Energy Manager
Buildings and Estates
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have or participate in a green laboratory program?:
Yes

Does the institution’s green laboratory program address the following?:
Yes or No
Energy conservation and efficiency, e.g., fume hood ("shut the sash") and freezer maintenance programs Yes
Water conservation and efficiency Yes
Chemical use and disposal Yes
Materials management, e.g., green purchasing guidelines and recycling and reuse programs Yes
Training for lab users on sustainable practices Yes

A brief description of the institution's green laboratory program:

The program brings together the Lab community at UCC and is made up of Lab managers, technical officers, lab users, and suppliers and is supported by the operational services and procurement department.
The program sets out to reduce and minimize the environmental footprint of our lab operations, develop policies and good practice guidance and bring together the Lab community at UCC to implement a green lab certification program at the University.
In addition, UCC students and staff came together to run a climate assembly at UCC in February 2021 . This was the first assembly of its kind to take place in a university in Ireland. The assembly was inspired by the Citizens’ Assembly and was based around the need to “Build Back Better” in the wake of Covid lockdowns. The Build Back better Climate Assembly Report highlighted the need to reevaluate the way that our lab's work to reduce energy consumption and the large amounts of waste that they produce. Single-use items are regularly used in labs, many of which are plastics. There are alternatives available and they should be used where possible". (https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/support/greencampus/pdfs/gcwebsitepdfs/BuildBackBetterClimateAssemblyReport.pdf
UCC Students Union President Asha Woodhouse stated her commitment in her election manifesto to working alongside the UCC Sustainability Officer and the SU Education Officer in obtaining Green Labs certification for the university’s labs. This endorsement and support from the student body is a very powerful support for UCC Green Labs program.


Website URL where information about the green laboratory program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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