How an Eco-Friendly Lab Sterilizer Can Save Your Facility Over $100,000

Whether you’re building a new laboratory or retrofitting an existing space—it’s time to start thinking ‘green.’ The world’s leading labs, universities, and research facilities are installing eco-friendly autoclaves equipped with water saving systems in an effort to lower their environmental impact and realize cost savings.

Rising Water Costs

Over the last 20 years, the world has experienced a growing scarcity of natural water resources.  Nearly 10% of watersheds in the U.S.* are “stressed,” where the demand for water exceeds the natural supply. This increased demand, exacerbated by the degradation of the current water system, is creating a need for maintenance and infrastructure improvements that will ultimately raise the price of water.

To implement these infrastructure improvements, the burden of higher utility rates will be shouldered by those residents and businesses who consume the most water. Specifically, studies by the EPA and American Water Works Association estimate that a staggering $500 billion to $1 trillion dollars worth of improvements are needed to maintain our drinking and wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years.

This is a major issue for facilities operating just one traditional, constant bleed steam autoclave, as these units use upwards of 1 million gallons/year—10x more than a green autoclave. To combat both short-term and impending long-term water consumption rate increases, labs are turning to green alternatives.

How a Green Autoclave Lowers Your Facility’s Operating Costs

Based on today’s average utility costs, a single eco-friendly autoclave can save a facility over 900,000 gallons of water per year.  That’s the equivalent of $100,000 over a ten-year period! For a lab supporting a large network of autoclaves, this adds up quickly. Laboratories with traditional constant-bleed autoclaves run the risk of incurring significantly higher costs over the life of the unit.

In addition to financial motivations, laboratories and research facilities are leveraging green solutions to satisfy regulatory mandates.  For example, all federal buildings in the United States must reduce their water intensity (gallons used per square foot) by 2% each year for a total of 26% by 2020. And many states and municipalities have followed suit by passing laws that either require or reference Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification on new government building projects.

The cost of incorporating green autoclave features has a typical return on investment of only 12 to 24 months. Considering both the urgent need to lessen water consumption and the financial impact of reduced utility bills, the solution is clear: invest in green technology today to realize cost savings tomorrow.

Green Solutions by CSS

At Consolidated Sterilizer Systems, we offer a variety of water saving products engineered to reduce utility consumption, such as the CSS WaterEco® Series Steam Sterilizer Water Saving Systems.

Click here to calculate your potential water savings with the CSS online water calculator. Or contact us today for free quote and to learn more about our greenest possible energy solutions.

* https://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2013/09/18/today%E2%80%99s-worst-watershed-stresses-may-become-new-normal-study-finds