The PCB has over 33,000 m² of laboratory and office space. To ensure that these facilities are in excellent condition, the PCB invests annually in the renovation and improvement of equipment. These revamping and renovation actions apply to both scientific equipment and general infrastructure and aim to offer the best service and achieve efficiency and resource savings.

Specifically, in the last two years, certain infrastructure modifications have allowed savings of around 15% in total water consumption, despite the continuous growth of our PCB community.

Here are just some of the noteworthy actions carried out on the facilities:

– Replacement of the WC taps with an eco model that allows pressure to be reduced with a better timer.

– Installation of a wastewater collection circuit for the Cluster I osmosis system in addition to other existing circuits.

– Condensate recovery from the air-conditioning units in Animal Facility 2.

– Rainwater harvesting system to irrigate the urban garden.

To help reduce water consumption, awareness-raising actions have also been carried out among the PCB community, in addition to the restrictions imposed during the different phases of drought.

Consuming laboratory water of the right quality, selecting glassware for washing and trying to optimise each washing cycle, and turning off the taps, among others, are workplace measures that contribute to saving water.

Scientific activity in laboratories is traditionally linked to high energy and water consumption. In the current situation of climate emergency and environmental degradation, we must modernise economies by seeking resource efficiency and decoupling economic growth from resource use (European Green Deal). The PCB’s water saving actions are in line with this commitment.