New and Improved Energy Scores for Better Benchmarking of Lab Buildings
The Labs2Zero scoring system for rating lab buildings’ energy performance will shortly be upgraded, signaling its progression from a pilot offering to the first official version of the score. In this latest article in the ongoing series from the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), we reflect on progress during the two years since the launch of the pilot Energy Score and present the updates that the widespread use of the score has enabled us to make. Words: Alison Farmer, PhD; Labs2Zero Program Director and Secretary of the Board, I2SL Travis Walter, PhD; Energy/Environmental Technology Researcher, LBNL
An energy score provides an at-a-glance picture of the energy performance of a building, allowing for prioritization within a portfolio of buildings, input into the design process, or tracking of performance over time. The Labs2Zero Energy Score is the first such score focused on lab buildings.
The pilot Labs2Zero Energy Score, launched in October 2023, was the first major deliverable of I2SL’s Labs2Zero program and was the subject of I2SL’s article in the Spring 2024 issue of Breakthrough. As a reminder, the score incorporates adjustment factors for lab-specific functional requirements, such as the amount and type of lab space within a facility, to enable comparisons between lab buildings with different characteristics. The scoring method also accounts for weather variations. Lab buildings are scored on a 1-100 scale, where a score of 80 implies that that lab’s energy performance is better than 80% of lab buildings. The scoring system was based on a statistical analysis of the buildings submitted to the Laboratory Benchmarking Tool (LBT) database (see https://lbt.i2sl.org), collected over its 20 years of operation. The analysis was conducted in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
Growth of the Labs2Zero program
In the time since the launch of the pilot Energy Score, more than 500 buildings have received their scores via the LBT. These scores have been used in a wide range of settings, such as corporate responsibility reporting, submissions to the GRESB rating system, applications for I2SL’s Sustainable Laboratories Awards program, and energy audit reports prepared by consultants. During the year following the score’s launch, building data submissions to the LBT were up 400% compared to previous years, indicating the industry’s significant interest in using scores for rating lab building performance.
An opportunity for improvement
In addition to validating the demand for energy performance ratings for labs, the large volume of new data submissions presented an opportunity to improve the scoring system itself. Using the latest LBT dataset, I2SL and LBNL worked together to implement tighter data quality constraints on the subset of data used for the score analysis, including the exclusion of older data and of buildings with some missing data fields.
Using this higher-quality, more recent dataset revealed new trends in the data that allow improved adjustments for lab building characteristics. The new scoring system, the Labs2Zero Energy Score v1.0, now incorporates adjustment factors for the density of fume cupboards within lab spaces and the amount of vivarium space in each building. These factors replace a general biochemistry factor that was in place for the pilot score, and therefore improve the accuracy of scoring for these types of facilities. The v1.0 score also includes a correction for cold weather conditions experienced during each year of data, while the pilot included only a hot weather correction.
The switch from the pilot to the v1.0 scores will produce a slight decrease in most buildings’ ratings, which might be expected given that more recent data was used to develop the new version. Buildings with high fume cupboard densities, high vivarium fractions, and in cold climate areas will see larger shifts in score – these facility types will mostly receive higher scores than before because the scoring system now takes more of their energy-driving requirements into account.
The new v1.0 Energy Scores will be rolled out via the LBT around the end of 2025. The pilot scores will also be shown for a time to allow comparisons. This type of score update will be performed occasionally in future, perhaps once every five years, to keep the scores consistent with the latest available lab building performance data.
Beyond the energy score
The Labs2Zero program aims to provide a full scorecard for lab buildings, including scores for greenhouse gas emissions in addition to energy consumption. A score for location-based operational emissions was released in May of 2024, and this score will be updated along with the Energy Score. Scores for market-based operational emissions and embodied carbon are currently in development.
Labs2Zero Energy Scores also appear in the latest offering from I2SL, the Actionable Insights and Measures (AIM) Report. This new software tool produces rapid automated energy audits for lab buildings, including custom energy savings and implementation cost calculations to highlight opportunities to improve building performance and reduce operating costs. The AIM Report will be the subject of a future Breakthrough article.
Lab benchmarking for the UK
In June of 2025, the I2SL UK Chapter held a well-attended event in London focused on benchmarking in laboratory facilities, and the chapter plans additional discussions and work in the coming months on approaches to optimize benchmarking for UK labs. The LBT is fully internationalized and is ready to receive more data for UK lab buildings, and I2SL welcomes all feedback on tailoring benchmarking offerings to meet the needs of the UK lab community. ***
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