King's College London

King’s is committed to developing and promoting sustainable practise to safeguard the environment for the community and future generations. Responsibility and ethics are at the core of our development plans. The Sustainable Laboratories programme is just one of the initiatives fostering these values at King’s.

Laboratories have energy and waste footprints that are 3-10 times greater than comparably sized non-research spaces. Therefore engaging with researchers and technical staff in the lab is integral to the university achieving its carbon reduction targets and using resources more efficiently for scientific research. The silver award has requirements such as the consolidation of cold storage facilities, the implementation of shut down processes to ensure that all non-essential equipment is turned off, the procurement of energy-efficient equipment, ensuring the sashes of fume cupboards are closed, equipment is well maintained and shared, and that waste streams have clear signage with as much material as possible being diverted away from hazardous waste streams as appropriate.

Tytus Murphy, Sustainability Projects Officer at King’s, said ‘Simon and Bill have created a positive culture with respect to reducing environmental impacts, promoting lab efficiency and sharing best practice throughout the wider King's networks.’

Professor Anatoly Zayats, Head of the Experimental Biophysics & Nanotechnology group, said ‘We are delighted and proud that we can contribute to making this world more sustainable for the future.’

Many congratulations to Simon, Bill and the members of the Experimental Biophysics & Nanotechnology group who use the laboratories.