Description: The activities and equipment in research labs often consume large amounts of energy. One Chemical fume hood may use as much energy annually as three average houses. The McGill campus has hundreds of research labs that together house hundreds of fume hoods, biological safety cabinets, and other ventilation equipment. Great opportuinity exists for reducing energy through simple changes in the use of this equipment. Many lab occupants, however, are not aware of the impact their actions would have on energy savings and thus do not feel incentivized to change their behaviours.

 

Suggested Approaches: Listed below are several approaches to researching and tackling this problem. Students are expected and encouraged to contribute to the refinement of their research approach as inspired by their discipline of study. 

 

Behavioural/Social Psychology Approach: What methods are most effective in changing the behaviour of lab users towards energy conservative use of their ventilation equipment? What key factors drive this change and how can they be scaled across different types of labs?

 

Technical and Economic Approach: What potential on-site energy savings exist and how can they be quantified in a sample of key McGill labs? How do fume hoods and other ventilation equipment stack up as energy users compared to other lab appliances on our campus?

 

Management Approach: How can a member of the lab group or an individual in a supervisory role implement a policy to affect change in lab equipment use? How are decisions made with regards to investments in energy saving equipment and/or lab priorities? Looking at the dymanics (hierarchy or administrative structure) of a research group to understand where sustained change in energy savings should be instigated.

 

Candidates: We are looking for students from a wide range of academic backgrounds as this project can be approached in multiple ways. Key skills and background knowledge may include: people skills (comfort interviewing lab users and other stakeholders); statistical analysis, behaviour metrics, survey writing, research project design; analytical/critical reasoning.

 

Courses: Suggested courses with which to tackle this project:
 

• ENVR 490 Independent Research Project

• ENVR 491 Independent Project in Environment

• ENVR 301 Environmental Research Design

• GEOG 302 Environmental Management 1

• BUSA 400 Independent Studies in Management

• BREE 420 Engineering for Sustainability

• PSYC 396 Undergraduate Research Project

• PSYC 380D Honours Research Project and Seminar

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MEP Contact: If you are interested in the project and can register for one of the above courses (or have another course in mind) please get in touch with us via email ASAP (energyproject@mcgill.ca). We will help successful applicants find a supervising professor, introduce them to key contacts in the McGill energy community and assist in providing other resources as needed.