Operations

The Faculty of Natural Sciences is committed to leading by example in our operations, transforming our campuses into living labs where sustainable practices are implemented, evaluated, and continuously improved. Our ambition is to set a sector-leading standard by creating one of the lowest carbon, zero-polluting, low-consumption, and biodiverse operational ecosystems within the constraints of our urban environment, guided by our academic expertise and dedication to safeguarding the future.

FoNS Sustainability Committee:

Meeting once a term, the remit of our Sustainability Committee is to improve Faculty operations and processes in this regard and ensure alignment with the overall university sustainability transition. 

The committee will: 

• Engage with and report to Imperial's Sustainability Strategy Committee. 
• Be a source of cascading information on and promotion of sustainability across the Faculty, working with Departments and the central College teams. 
• Identify key sustainability indicators and hotspots requiring priority action. 
• Gather and disseminate best practice examples and promote sustainability as a mainstream practice across the Faculty. 
• Work with key stakeholders across the university and the Faculty to quantify greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions across the Faculty. 
• Conduct high-level monitoring of Faculty progress towards attaining sustainability goals. 
• Make recommendations on changes to reduce emissions, including but not limited to policies, processes and infrastructure. 
• Report to FMC on sustainability issues and progress against attaining Faculty goals.

Membership 

• Professor Jem Woods (Chair) 
• 1x representative from each FoNS Department (e.g. Chair of departmental sustainability committees, staff (including technical staff) with input to or oversight of significant department operations or facilities, staff (including research staff) with other significant links to sustainability) 
• Representative(s) from Property and Major Projects
• Faculty Operating Officer 
• FoNS Project Manager(s) 

Sustainable Labs: LEAF and My Green Lab

FoNS are committed to advancing sustainability within our laboratories. For more general information regarding LEAF and My Green Lab certification schemes, head to the college's central information page. To find out more about how our departments are progressing, head to the 'Research' page of our sustainability site.

At present, FoNS have 

• 11% engagement, including 4% bronze, 5% silver and 3% gold awards.

More information on how labs can be made sustainable can be found https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/257160/ways-help-make-research-labs-more/ 

My Green Lab Freezer Challenge

In 2024, nine departments participated in the scheme, saving £76,637 and 58tCO2.

Sustainable Offices: Green Impact

FoNS encourages the development of sustainable office practice via Green Impact, an interactive sustainable action platform, providing a toolkit for effective activities colleagues can take as teams to improve sustainability across Imperial and at home.

• In 2024, the Chemistry team were awarded Gold and the Faculty Office team were awarded Bronze for their efforts to improve the sustainability of their offices.