Auditing and Labelling the Environmental Impact of Multi-Energy National Scientific Infrastructure (short name: Infra-Audit)

Project Description

Standardised, transparent, and publicly accessible energy labelling is available for many of the devices we interact with in our daily lives. These are mostly focussed on consumer goods and aim to inform customer purchasing and usage behaviours. These labelling schemes are also used by regulators to encourage or incentivise the refitting/replacement of older equipment with more environmentally friendly choices. Currently, large infrastructure in scientific, research, and medical disciplines have no such performance data. These instruments are critical to daily life and justifiably escape calls for their replacement. However, their energy impact should be assessed to progress towards more efficient designs.

This project will examine large scientific and medical device infrastructure within Trinity College to assess its energy and environmental impact. This will include devices such as magnetic resonance imagers, high-voltage electron microscopes, research furnaces and distilled/deionised water purifiers. These capital infrastructure investments represent multi-energy and time dependent systems where energy usage is not easily characterised.

A tool will be developed to evaluate and label all the major scientific infrastructure in the university, therefore users of these instruments can make informed choices about the environmental impact of their work. The tool can easily be expanded across wider HEA institutions, hospitals, and industry.