Environmental Sustainability
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is committed to establishing environmentally sustainable operations and an environmentally aware community. The Institute acknowledges the considerable scientific evidence indicating that greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities are leading to significant changes to our planet’s climate.
Climate change and pollution are closely linked to human health, with climate change predicted to result in changes to infectious disease transmission patterns as well as food and water shortages. Furthermore, managing human health will become more difficult if large numbers of people are displaced by rising sea levels. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, as a world leader in human health research, believes that we must all consider environmental sustainability in our work and daily life.
Consistent with our primary goal of improving human health outcomes the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute has an Environmental Sustainability Working Group (ESWG), comprising representatives from each scientific division and support staff and chaired by the General Manager. The ESWG works collaboratively with all students and staff to assess areas in which more sustainable working practices can be introduced and to implement these.
Examples of schemes already operating in the Institute buildings include using recycled water for toilet flushing, installing timer switches on lights and using recycled paper for all standard printing jobs.
The new building currently under construction will incorporate numerous environmentally sustainable design features, including passive temperature regulation that utilises seasonal variation and area-specific ventilation and lighting systems.
The Board of Director’s of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have identified increased environmental sustainability as an important goal for the Institute. In 2008, we commissioned an external audit of the Institute’s greenhouse gas emissions. This document will serve as a benchmark for future efforts to reduce emissions from the Institute. We hope that increased efforts to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner will demonstrate the Institute’s continued commitment to improving all aspects of human health.