GRAND RAPIDS – The West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum will discuss on May 11 at a lunch-and-learn the huge amount of energy that typically scientific laboratories expend at major universities – typically four to six times as much energy as typical office buildings.
 

 
Harvard University, for instance, estimates that its labs account for 50 percent of energy usage, but take up just 23 percent of the space.
 

 
Featured speaker is Dr. Sudhakar G. Reddy, Coordinator of the Sustainable Labs Program at University of Michigan. Reddy will share U-M’s efforts to develop a green labs program and his experiences with the Michigan Green Labs Initiative, which has worked with U-M, MSU and other Michigan institutions to promote green practices and environmentally-friendly, sustainable technology in research laboratories.
 

 

The program runs from noon to 2 pm on May 11 at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Secchia Center in Grand Rapids from 12 to 2 pm.  This month’s meeting is presented by Intertek and MSU.

Also on the agenda is Eric Saigeon, Intertek Sustainability Manager, USA & Canada, who will talk about his company’s sustainability efforts and the West Michigan Green Labs Pilot, a new WMSBF project funded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Ann Erhardt, Sustainability Director for MSU, who will briefly introduce the school’s current sustainability initiatives.

Tours of the LEED-certified campus will be available.

The meeting is hosted concurrently with the West Michigan Green Labs Workshop, which features additional speakers and content from 2:15 to 4:30 pm.  The final workshop of the Michigan Green Labs Initiative and the launch of the West Michigan Green Labs Pilot, participants will learn how green lab programs promote green practices and environmentally-friendly, sustainable technology in laboratories that have been proven to reduce energy use by 30 to 50 percent. Workshop speakers include Daniel Doyle, Chairman of Grumman/Butkus Associates and a director for the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories, Clinton Boyd, Principal, Green Chemistry & Sustainability for Steelcase Inc.

Lunch is $15 for WMSBF members online, $20 for non-members. Free parking is available for members that pay online. To register,  http://wmsbf.org/april/