Making Green Labs fun… “Close that Fume Hood!”
How TCD used a fun game to engage over 650 lab students with key energy saving behaviours
Players took an average of 20 energy saving actions
Players did “shutdown” checks every every game level
Players learnt about the relative energy use of lab equipment
About Trinity College Dublin & the Green Labs Programme
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has been recognised as a global leader in sustainability and was recently ranked 16th in Europe and 29th in the world in the Global QS Sustainability Rankings for Universities in 2025. As well as offering world class education in sustainability, and leading on sustainability and biodiversity research, TCD has held a Green Flag for campus sustainability since 2013.
One of the many sustainability initiatives being implemented by TCD is a Green Labs programme. This programme includes facilitating campus labs achieving the My Green Lab certification, running a green labs short course, and building an extensive online resource hub for lab users.
TCD & Bold Donut project: Labs Energy Game
The challenge: increasing awareness among students and staff (with a focus on Undergraduates and new wet lab users) about key energy saving actions they can take in wet labs - like making sure “fume hood” sashes are closed when unattended and ensuring ultra-low temperature freezer doors are properly closed and sealed.
The solution: in late 2025, as part of an effort to engage the users of wet labs on campus on key energy saving behaviours, TCD collaborated with Bold Donut to pilot a “virtual wet lab” energy saving game to make saving energy in labs fun and memorable.
Based on interviews with labs users and multiple “playtesting” sessions, it was decided that the game would focus on very specific actions that labs users could actually control - such as how they used the equipment during a lab session and what equipment they checked after the session had ended.
The resulting game got players to take these in-game energy saving actions over 13,000 times during the campaign, reinforcing climate friendly behaviours while enjoying a short gaming break!
What the TCD Sustainability Team said
“The lab energy game was a great alternative to our typical outreach methods. It allowed the sustainability team to share important tips through a fun puzzle, making it much easier for the campus community to get involved and stay engaged.”
Over a 5 week period students and staff at TCD were given access to a digital game designed to be fun, quick to play, and educational - a “Candy Crush” style experience that embedded key knowledge and energy saving behaviours into the gameplay. The game was promoted via email , social media and using a QR code on campus screens in the main science building. As part of promotion there were prizes of €30 and €20 of university shop credit made available for two randomly picked players.
Key Results
Engagement was very high with over 70% of the 659 players completing 3 or more levels and playing the game for an average of 12 minutes and 40 seconds. That’s around double the average session length for commercial “casual mobile games”.
Players took an average of 20 energy saving actions per session (over 13,000 actions collectively) with 96% of actions being taken without delay to reduce energy loss in the game. Despite a high level of theoretical knowledge (average baseline quiz score was 94%), 33% of players who gave us freeform feedback specifically mentioned positive learning.
What the players said
“Very cool like candy crush And instructive”
“I like the music and the visuals! It’s a fun game to play! And you learn how to save energy as well!”
“nice balance between informative and fun”
Conclusion
The virtual wet lab energy saving game successfully engaged students and staff at TCD with 659 players taking an average of 20 “energy saving actions” during gameplay that lasted for longer than 12 minutes. Players rated the game 4.7 out of 5 for enjoyment and many of them (21%) returned to the game for multiple sessions. This result in particular is reflective of Bold Donut’s “fun first” approach!
Based on the results of the pilot, Bold Donut is investing further resources into bringing the game to more University wet labs in order to expand it’s impact.