EPFL releases a carbon calculator that breaks a research lab's emissions out by source
EPFL released a CO2 Calculator in late September for labs that need three to 10 times more power than offices, per UCL and Green Lab. Labs can set trips, equipment and power use against one another before choosing where to cut.
The Scientist · Science desk
Per University College London and Green Lab, research labs require from three to 10 times more power than standard offices of the same size: three times at the low end of the range, 10 times at the high end.
Power need vs a standard office of the same size, per UCL and Green Lab In times office power
| Item | Value | Claim |
|---|---|---|
| Research lab, low end of range | 3 times office power | 1 |
| Research lab, high end of range | 10 times office power | 1 |
What happened
- The tool imports a lab's surface area, purchasing history and power use automatically, and users add trips, specialty products, equipment and external cloud providers.
- Its calculations follow the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the international standard for carbon accounting.
- EPFL's sustainability unit spent several months building the many emission sources into the program and running pilot tests in the school's own labs.
- In the pilot, Veronique Michaud's composites lab found a space heater among its biggest emitters and used the figure to support requests for building improvements.
- The calculator is already in use across EPFL, and the University of Lausanne and ETH Zurich are also taking an interest.
Why it matters
- capability A lab can check a reduction step against its own earlier figures, so a repeat annual run becomes the test of whether a change worked.
- constraint Close calls between sources should not be settled by the ranking. A measured quantity times a factor is firmer than an estimate for an instrument or a chemical order, and a ranking with a wide gap between two sources is more reliable than one with a narrow gap.
- precedent If more universities adopt the tool, Le Tiec expects pooled experience and methods to sharpen the estimates. Shared emission factors would then be the next thing to compare.
The three-to-ten figure describes power use [1]. The calculator's scope is wider than power, since it also takes in travel, specialty products and cloud services [5]. The source gives no per-lab totals, so how much of a given lab's footprint is electricity remains open.
The design starts from a decision labs find hard to judge: whether to skip a business trip, swap out an instrument, reduce the lab's electricity consumption or upgrade the insulation in its building [14]. "What's useful for a research team isn't just knowing their total emissions, but also being able to compare the emissions from different sources," said Agnes Le Tiec, head of EPFL Sustainability [7].
Le Tiec described how the numbers are built. For a piece of equipment's power use or a journey, you multiply the kilowatt-hours or kilometers by an emissions factor [12]. Specialized instruments and chemicals are harder. "It's trickier for specialized research instruments and chemicals," she said, in a partial quote [13]. The source adds that no calculator will give a lab its exact emissions, because some emissions cannot be measured directly and a result is only as accurate as the data behind it [11].
Moving the tool to another campus takes work. Sebastian Kahlert, who heads ETH Zurich's Net Zero program, said ETH would need to link the calculator to its internal systems and import data on labs' surface area, purchases and power use, and might also have to adjust the equipment database [9]. "But the most difficult part was already done by EPFL and it is great to be able to benefit from that," he said [10].
What to watch
- Whether ETH Zurich or the University of Lausanne links the calculator to its internal systems and reports results.
- Whether EPFL publishes uncertainty ranges for instrument and chemical estimates.
- Whether year-over-year runs in EPFL labs show reductions after changes such as the heater fix.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption20
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives55
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
According to University College London and the Swiss initiative Green Lab, research labs require anywhere from three to 10 times more power than standard offices of the same size.
- [2]
EPFL developed the CO2 Calculator through a joint effort involving various departments and research labs.
- [3]
Staff at EPFL's sustainability unit spent several months incorporating the many emission sources into the program and running pilot tests in the school's labs.
- [4]
The calculator was released in late September and is already being used across EPFL; the University of Lausanne and ETH Zurich are also taking an interest.
- [5]
The calculator automatically imports much of a lab's data, such as surface area, purchasing history and power use; users fill in specifics including trips, specialty products, lab and IT equipment, and external cloud service providers.
- [6]
The calculator's calculations are based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, an international standard for carbon emissions accounting.
- [7]
"What's useful for a research team isn't just knowing their total emissions, but also being able to compare the emissions from different sources," said Agnes Le Tiec, head of EPFL Sustainability.
- [8]
Veronique Michaud's Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites took part in the pilot and found that one of its biggest emitters was a space heater; the team used the calculator to quantify the problem and add weight to its requests for building improvements.
- [9]
Sebastian Kahlert, head of ETH Zurich's Net Zero program, said that to use the calculator ETH would need to link it to internal systems and import data on labs' surface area, purchases and power use, and might also need to adjust the equipment database for more lab-specific insights.
- [10]
"But the most difficult part was already done by EPFL and it is great to be able to benefit from that," Kahlert said.
- [11]
No matter what calculator a research lab uses, it will never know the exact amount of its carbon emissions; some emissions cannot be measured directly, and a calculation is only as accurate as the data available.
- [12]
Le Tiec said that for the emissions from a piece of equipment's power use or a given journey, you can simply multiply the relevant physical quantity, such as kilowatt-hours or kilometers, by an emissions factor.
- [13]
Le Tiec said "it's trickier for specialized research instruments and chemicals" because the team might not know exactly where they came from or how they were produced.
- [14]
The source poses the lab's dilemma as a choice among forgoing a business trip, replacing a piece of equipment, cutting the lab's power use or updating the building's insulation.
- [15]
Le Tiec said that "being able to pool our experience and methods means we could further hone our estimates."
- [16]
The calculator gives scientists a detailed breakdown of their lab's emissions so they can pinpoint where reduction steps can be taken and measure the effects of those steps from year to year.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- phys.orgNew carbon calculator helps research labs pinpoint emissions and target reductions
1 article · October 13, 2026
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