ROAD TO NET ZERO: REINFORCING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
Resiliency. Benchmarking. Transparency. Collaboration.
How do Canadian laboratory operations measure up as compared to other countries? Is Canada on the same road to net zero as others? Are we positioned as a leader in some areas, but lagging in others?
Sustainable Labs Canada (SLCan) and Conference Organizing Committee invite you to submit presentations on your experiences, best practices, innovations and lessons learned from your own journey down the road to net zero.
Call for Abstracts
Download the Call for Abstracts form
Here are examples of questions that we would like to see answered, from multiple perspectives (designer, operator, owner), as part of the conference program:
RESILIENCY
- What makes a building resilient to significant weather events and climate change?
- Best practices to protect occupants and research?
- Case studies and projects
- What best practices, designs, technologies being implemented today are best suited for adapting to future climate change models?
BENCHMARKING
- Is Canada on track to achieve the 2030 decarbonization goal? Are lab operations performing better or worse than the other building types?
- How do Canadian laboratory operations stack up against others in energy consumption density?
- How is clean ‘electrification’ of buildings influencing lab design? What are potential drawbacks or circumstantial considerations?
- Post-COVID follow-up on pathogen control and laboratory airside quality. What practices/ technologies worked, what didn’t? Is there anything significant we can speak to now or is it too early?
- What is net zero? Definitions, implementation, analytics
- Tools and Trends
TRANSPARENCY
- How is building and energy data being interpreted and used to inform the building design and decarbonization strategy.
- Greenwashing - What is being presented vs. what is proven to work.
COLLABORATION
- Policy makers, investors/developers, users. How do the three parties collaborate? Are we at odds?
- Designing labs with the whole team to generate success in sustainability and zero carbon - getting the right people on the project at the right time.
- Does Design Build or Design Assist really work? Getting trades on board early for a more successful outcome in high performance laboratory construction.
ABSTRACTS
Abstracts should be submitted for consideration as oral presentations in an in-person environment. Oral presentations are to be 45 minutes in length. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words and must include biographies for all presenters. The abstracts may be submitted in English or French and must be submitted using the form to info@slcan.ca. Note that all sections of the form must be completed to be considered. The abstract submission deadline is May 5, 2023.
Special attention will be given to abstracts that:
• Focus on new developments and technologies;
• Evaluate a completed project's performance by presenting documented results over a period of time; and,
• Are presented by the facility owner.
PRESENTER REGISTRATION
All presenters are required to register for the Conference by September 11, 2023. One discounted registration ($600 + tax) will be made available for each accepted presentation. Additional presenters will be required to register at the full rate. The discounted registration can only be claimed by filling out the PDF registration form provided with the presentation confirmation notice and returning it to info@slcan.ca.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
Initial abstracts may be submitted in English or French. All final abstracts and presentations crediting federal government employee authors must be submitted in English and French. Any organizations with translation capabilities are encouraged to provide their abstracts and presentations in English and French. The translation may follow the revised final version.
FINAL PRESENTATIONS
PowerPoint (PPT) presentations must be submitted for review by subject experts. Authors of accepted presentations must revise their PPT presentations as required by the reviewers. Revised PPTs are to be submitted by e-mail. The presentations will be made available on the SLCan website (www.slcan.ca) following the Conference in the members only section.
Abstract Deadline – May 5, 2023
Author Notification – May 19, 2023
Revised/Translated Abstract Due – May 26, 2023
Program Published – June 2, 2023
Speaker Registration Deadline – September 11, 2023
Draft PPT Due – October 11, 2023
Final (Revised) PPT Due – November 1, 2023
Translated PPT Due – November 8, 2023
TIPS FOR PRESENTERS (selected abstracts)
• Communicate sustainability in a way that makes it relevant and useful to the particular audience you are speaking to.
• Provide a balance between negative and positive with a focus on the positive.
• Provide a balance between theory, examples and stories, with a focus on the stories.
• Empower the audience with information that will enable them to move forward to do something rather than get frustrated.
• Communicate all sides of the story as effectively as possible.
• Base the presentation on actual experience (own or that of others), not on speculation and wishful thinking.
• Address challenges and trade-offs around sustainability.
• Be engaging and interactive, breaking conventions in presentation style as sustainability requires breaking conventions in the “real world”.