Sustainable facility design and green labs

At BMS, we design, build and maintain environmentally responsible, high-performance buildings and laboratories to advance scientific breakthroughs. We apply sustainable facility and laboratory design principles, and provide our teams with the tools and resources to reduce GHG emissions, increase energy efficiency, and reduce waste and water use.

Sustainable facility design
 

We have evolved our design standard for new and renovated buildings and facilities across the BMS portfolio to require they include sustainable design elements from nationally accepted certification programs.

Operating with this criteria as our guidepost we look to:

• Optimize energy efficiency, such as engaging in energy life cycle assessments and identifying opportunities to use alternate fuel sources.
• Minimize water use, including through use-modeling and water balance maps, and by identifying opportunities to reuse, repurpose and recycle water.
• Minimize waste and eliminate waste to landfill, including rerouting maintenance, demolition and construction waste; adding waste management expectations to supplier contracts; and auditing packaging to drive the transition to reusable, recoverable and/or recyclable materials.

Facility upgrade projects
 

BMS Global Engineering and Facilities (GEF) undertakes projects designed to address near-term sustainability targets. These projects focus on a variety of solutions around energy efficiency, thermal heat recovery, electrification, airflow reduction, renewables, and HVAC.

Recent examples of improvement projects include the application of a fabric insulating wrap that increased thermal efficiency, installation of high-efficiency, low-to-zero carbon HVAC and lighting systems, and the installation of solar photovoltaic panels.

Green Labs Certification Program (GLCP)
 

For nearly a decade, we have provided the Green Labs Certification Program (GLCP) template and incentives for our laboratories to decrease their environmental impact from energy and water conservation to waste and GHG reductions to integration of green chemistry methods.

In 2023, BMS built upon the GLPC program with the adoption of the My Green Lab’s (MGL) Certification program. Aligned with the UN Race to Zero Campaign, MGL is considered an international gold standard for lab sustainability practices and will help BMS explore new processes, technologies, and methods on its journey to saving water and energy and reducing waste.

The first pilot was launched in May 2023 with 11 BMS labs undertaking an in-depth survey and gap analysis to help drive innovative solutions. Upon completion of this initial round of activity, this cohort of labs completed the MGL pre-certification, as well as bespoke recommendations for continuous improvement, which they are now looking to implement. A second pilot was launched in November with an additional 14 labs that will repeat the same process of review, assessment, and implementation.

Some of the approaches that have been central to the program’s design and execution include:

• Gamification: To encourage healthy competition, elements have gamification have been embedded in the process;
• Collaboration: BMS created an internal MGL community via on-line platforms and meetings to encourage collaboration;
• Recognition: Participants are recognized for their efforts via internal recognition platforms;
• Cross-functional engagement: Knowledge sharing across the organization; an example of which is the supplier sustainability teams making scientists aware of green/sustainable lab products and consumables.

By the end of November 2023, there were 25 labs participating in the My Green Lab certification pilots across eight BMS global sites. While the current focus of the program is early adoption and embedding sustainability principles into its labs, BMS’s future vision is to measure the impact of these activities.