BenchSci Becomes Country's First Company to Offset Remote Work Emissions

With partner Less Emissions, Toronto-based biomedical machine learning leader launches unique program as part of its climate-positive business initiative

TORONTO, March 16, 2021 /CNW/ -- BenchSci, an emerging leader in biomedical machine learning, has announced several new sustainability initiatives as part of its BenchSci Forward platform for change, including a solution for offsetting carbon emissions produced by employees while working remotely. Developed with the help and guidance of partners at Less Emissions, a Bullfrog Power company, this initiative makes BenchSci the first company in the country to address the climate impact of increasing remote work. The initiative has helped BenchSci achieve its commitment to being a carbon-neutral business and offsetting 10% more emissions than it produces. 

"Working in the biomedical field, we've always valued the positive impact we can make through our products, helping scientists accelerate their research and get new medicine to patients faster," says Liran Belenzon, CEO of BenchSci. "There are other important issues outside of our everyday operations that we also care deeply about, one of which is climate change. We're proud of the new climate initiatives we've put in place, and we hope our actions will inspire other businesses to follow our example."

As part of its sustainability program, BenchSci has undertaken a number of steps in addition to offsetting remote work emissions. These include:

• Moving to a LEED Platinum-certified office. BenchSci has moved its main office to 25 York, the first LEED Platinum-certified building in Toronto.
• Migrating to renewable energy-powered cloud servers. BenchSci has moved all of its cloud computing to Google Cloud, which runs on renewable energy and uses 50% less energy than average data centers.
• Encouraging the conservation of natural areas. BenchSci has begun supporting Nature Conservancy Canada in preserving important natural areas that absorb and store carbon dioxide.

BenchSci worked with Less Emissions to address the small amount of remaining emissions from its office and colocated servers. But as the company is currently working remotely and moving to a mostly remote hybrid model post-COVID 19, emissions from remote work presented a challenge. 

To address this challenge, BenchSci partnered with Less to estimate work-associated increases in home energy use, calculate associated emissions, and offset them with the highest quality carbon offsets available in the country. 

"We congratulate BenchSci for mitigating their carbon footprint with high-quality Canadian offsets," says Raubia Elahi, Bullfrog Power's Regional Sales Director. "They've shown their adaptability and their commitment to the environment by addressing work-related emissions from their office and their employees' homes." 

About BenchSci

BenchSci's vision is to help scientists bring novel medicine to patients 50% faster by 2025. We do this by empowering scientists to run more successful experiments with the world's most advanced, easy-to-use biomedical artificial intelligence software platform, thereby avoiding delays that slow the progress of medicine to clinical trials. Backed by F-Prime, Inovia, Golden Ventures, and Google's AI fund, Gradient Ventures, we provide an indispensable tool for more than 41,000 scientists that accelerates research at 15 top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 4,300 leading academic centers. We're a CIX Top 10 Growth company, certified Great Place to Work®, and top-ranked company on Glassdoor. Learn more at www.benchsci.com. 

For more information, please contact Marie Cook at [email protected].

About BenchSci Forward

BenchSci Forward extends BenchSci's positive impact beyond our technology, leveraging our business as a platform to improve health, the environment, and social justice. Through Forward, we provide financial support to high-impact organizations; raise awareness, encourage dialogue, and catalyze progressive action; and create opportunities for employees to contribute directly to making positive change. Our three current focus areas are diversity in STEM, mental health at work, and climate-positive business. Learn more at www.benchsci.com/forward.

About Less Emissions, a Bullfrog Power company

Less Emissions helps individuals and businesses mitigate carbon emissions quickly and effectively with the highest quality offsets in Canada. You'll lessen your environmental footprint, support innovative emissions reduction projects, and ultimately make the responsible decision for our planet when you need to travel. Less' Canadian offsets have achieved the CSA Standard certification and are listed on the CSA CleanProjects Registry. CSA Standard-certified projects must follow ISO 14064-3 standards, a globally recognized and respected standard for voluntary GHG emissions reduction projects. www.less.ca 

Related Images

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BenchSci Forward - Climate Neutral
A young child plants a tree.

SOURCE BenchSci