2023
FY2023 Advancing Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Small Group: NIEHS Refrigerant Management Plan
Bill Steinmetz, Kerri Hartung, Paul Johnson, Julie Johnson, Rachel FaisonIn fiscal year 2023, the NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) implemented a Refrigerant Management Plan (RMP). All refrigerants are covered by the NIEHS plan including formulations comprised of greenhouse gases (GHG) as well as ozone depleting substances. The RMP supports GHG and climate risk reduction and increased the climate resiliency and adaptation goals of Executive Order 14057.
FY2023 Decarbonizing Federal Buildings
Small Group: NIEHS Rall Building Roof Replacement/Refurbishments
Alison Karver, Cameron Thompson, James StancilThe NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Office of Research Facilities, based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, successfully completed the replacement and refurbishment of the Building 101 Module D Roof, covering an area of approximately 16,000 square feet. The primary objective of this project was to enhance energy efficiency by replacing all wet insulation with dry, incorporating 39 percent recycled material. Additionally, the entire roof surface was coated with a reflective membrane capable of deflecting up to 88 percent of ultraviolet rays, further contributing to energy conservation efforts.
FY2023 Environmental Stewardship
Small Group: NIH RTP NIEHS Transportation Reduction of Soiled Animal Bedding
Paul Poliachik, Brian Harris, William Ragland, Ben Hocutt, Paul JohnsonAt NIEHS in RTP, North Carolina, the cost of transporting soiled animal bedding from the facility became very expensive after the composting facility refused to accept the material due to circumstances beyond the office’s control. To address these concerns, the group developed an efficient solution to support transport of the soiled bedding to a power plant where the bedding would be used to produce electricity.
FY2023 Sustainability Innovator
Project/Program: The 2023 NIH Green Labs ProgramIn 2023, the participation in the NIH Green Labs Program (GLP) increased 87 percent over the participation rate in 2022, and a 1,272 percent increase since the inception of the program in 2018. The Green Labs Program is a self-assessment tool for labs to learn about myriad environmental programs that are either mandated by federal, state, or local law or internal NIH or HHS policies and best management practices to reduce environmental impacts from lab activities.
Small Group: NIH Freezer Challenge Steering Committee
Helen Cawley, Jessica Hale, Helena Celia Cerda-Kun, Minoo Shakoury, Kerri HartungThis team of NIH employees from several institutes has voluntarily worked to promote sustainability while still carrying out their official duties within their institutes. As a team, they collaborated to increase the NIH involvement in the national and global effort to reduce energy use and respective emissions from laboratory freezers.
Small Group: NIEHS Recycling Program Innovation
Kerri Hartung, Paul Johnson, Bill Steinmetz, Cheryl Thompson, David Christie, Stephanie Bishop, Lisa Padilla-Banks, Andrea Kaminski, LTCDR Justin Bunn, Paul WindsorThe NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) recycling program has diverted over 10,000 tons of waste from landfill since its inception in 1993. Over time, however, changes to the types of materials that are recyclable at the institute, differences in what and how items are recycled at home versus work, and the well-meaning effects of “wishcycling” have negatively impacted workplace recycling. To assist institute personnel to correctly recycle in the workplace, this team took an innovative, multi-faceted approach that combined updated digital resources and physical signage, in-person engagement, on-line interactive quizzes, and development of an on-line interactive recycling database for laboratories.
2022
FY2022 Environmental Stewardship
Small Group: NIEHS Campus Bottle Filler Installation
Marcos Flores, Derrick Vest, Eric Frails, Barry Yancey, Fred Schwartz, Steven Todd Johnson, Greg Westmoreland, Kerri Hartung, and Arrash YazdaniThe National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Office of Research Facilities (ORF) collaborated with the Health and Safety Branch (HSB) to replace dated water fountains with 43 modern bottle fillers. The goal was to reduce single-use plastics on campus, improve the health of staff, provide filtered drinking water, and increase employee satisfaction on-campus.
The age of the building and specifics of the construction created significant challenges and required a substantial amount of planning and engineering for some locations. In addition to the primary project goals of waste diversion and employee health, the new bottle fillers will require less maintenance over time. They are more easily accessible and can be maintained using fewer government resources than the prior aging fountains.
The reduction in plastic waste is substantial for an Institute with almost 2,000 staff members. These reductions help NIEHS lower its carbon footprint by lowering the amount of waste generated and reducing the number of visits needed from vendors and waste disposal vehicles. The bottle fillers include built-in meters that display the total number of bottle fills, which provides a highly visible reminder of the NIEHS commitment to sustainability.
FY2022 Energy and Fleet Management
Small Group: NIEHS Decarbonization Assessment
Kerri Hartung, Paul Johnson, Steve Novak, Bill Steinmetz, Alexander Santago, Kyle Askins, Bill Blair, Ben Hocutt, Lee Howell, and Greg LeiferAs part of the Resilient-Renewable (R2) NIEHS Initiative, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) completed a Decarbonization Assessment (DA), the first of its kind for the NIH. R2 NIEHS is a holistic approach adopted by the institute in 2021, to make NIEHS more energy efficient and resilient while lowering carbon emissions.
The first step in the initiative was achieving a net-zero energy-renewable energy certificate designation, powering facility operations with the equivalent of 100% percent renewable resources. The next step was to complete the DA, which evaluated both energy supply-side and demand-side strategies for campus decarbonization. Strategies included better energy efficiency, climate-ready new construction, system heat recovery, electrification of the Central Utility Plant, onsite renewable energy generation, and offsite renewable energy procurement.
In addition, information from the DA was used to develop a Utility Energy Services Contract Preliminary Assessment, as well as design considerations for a proposed new Computational and Clinical Sciences Building. The DA provides a foundation to delve deeper into the feasibility of specific strategies, plan for future revitalization of the main research facility on campus and build a decarbonization approach for the institute that aligns with the goals of Executive Order 14057.
FY2022 Electronic Stewardship
Small Group: NIEHS Database of Laboratory Equipment for Sharing (DOLES)
Raja Jothi, Ph.D., Kevin Gerrish, Ph. D, David C. Fargo, Ph.D., Cheryl Thompson, Joseph D. Poccia, Justin P. Kosak, Stephanie L. Bishop, Kenneth T. Webb, Tina Berger, and Steven R. McCawShared use of existing research laboratory equipment offers significant energy, environmental, operational, and research-related benefits. To facilitate timely sharing of equipment between laboratories, the NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) developed the Database of Laboratory Equipment for Sharing (DOLES), an intranet-hosted searchable collection.
Staff can access a wide range of over 100 different equipment types, from centrifuges to DNA sequencers, to microscopes, to pipetting robots. DOLES is the result of cross-institute collaboration between the scientific community, digital designers, web developers, and photographers. Since its inception in June of 2022, the database has accumulated over 600 page views. The shared use of existing equipment has reinforced collaboration between laboratories.