Green Impact pioneer leading the way at Manchester University labs

Last year Cath Davies, a Lab Manager at Manchester University, undertook the Green Impact workbook singlehandedly and achieved Gold! This is how Cath did it and what she achieved.

She was amazed at how much her Lab was already doing, as it was compliant with Health and Safety, but students were a really useful set of ‘fresh eyes’ to point out where waste could be prevented. By focusing on the positives in her communications, enough changes were implemented for Cath to achieve a Gold Award for her Lab, and yet most of her fellow lab users didn’t notice much difference, except for the signs going up and the emails she sent round. Only four hours of Cath’s spare time was spent filling in the workbook, the rest she managed to fit into her work.

The Results:

• Achieving a Gold Award meant Cath got a lot of recognition for her work. She was in the University newsletter, nominated for a national S-lab award is now a member of the University committee on sustainability in labs)
• Now numerous labs have begun work on their Green Impact Workbooks
• Green Impact is now part of Manchester University’s Annual Performance Review (all Heads of School have to report on how many Green Impact Teams they have)
• The Lab that Cath works in has been awarded money from the ‘Green Fund’ and has enabled the Lab to:
  • Retro-fit VAV controls and automatic sash closure controls to fume cupboards seeing a minimum of 78% energy saving per year.
  • Installation of LED lighting, with two microwave sensors, has resulted in an 88% energy reduction; whilst still providing an equivalent level of illumination so as not to compromise safety or laboratory procedures.