Greening of research and development

Abstract

Research and development (R&D) is critical piece in the innovation pipeline. In the last few centuries, R&D has played an important role in the development of scientific knowledge that has fueled technology transfer in the food, pharmaceutical, industrial, and communication sectors. The agricultural and agri-food sectors in particular have relied heavily on R&D to increase crop yields, decrease the need for high agricultural inputs, identify faster methods to detect pathogens, conserve foods to prevent spoilage, and identify compounds in foods with health-promoting properties, to name a few examples. Increasing demands for higher productivity and a safer food supply will continue to drive the need for R&D. However, R&D activities are not environmentally inert. Laboratory buildings use several times as much energy and water per square foot as regular office buildings. Research and chemical laboratories also use large amounts of hazardous chemicals and generate significant waste. Furthermore, many of these facilitates contain high numbers of containment and exhaust devices and heat-generating equipment, which must be accessible continuously and, therefore, require constant maintenance and an uninterrupted power supply. Although there is a significant amount of literature on methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts in the industrial and processing sectors, less information is available on the greening of R&D. This chapter provides an overview of some of the “greener” strategies that can be considered in the planning and construction of research buildings, as well as in the conduct of quality control and R&D analyses and administration.