Sustainable HEP 2026 — 5th Edition

8 Jul 2026, 10:00 → 10 Jul 2026, 19:45 Europe/Zurich

Chandramauli Agrawal, Hannah Wakeling (John Adams Institute, University of Oxford), Kristin Lohwasser (University of Sheffield (GB)), Shreyasi Acharya (Universita e INFN, Bari (IT)), Yann Coadou (CPPM, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3 (FR))

Welcome to the 5^th edition of the Sustainable High Energy Physics (HEP) workshop!

Where: Videoconference link (Zoom) can be found by registered, logged-in users at the "Videoconference" page at the end of the list of pages to the left.

When: 8 Jul 2026 - 10 Jul 2026 

Everyone is welcome to register and participate, and we particularly encourage new attendees exploring the topic of sustainability within HEP! In addition, whilst this is a HEP conference, there will be quite a few sessions/talks relevant to the wider science community. 

Programme Highlights:

• Invited Talks: Leading experts will share the latest developments in HEP and sustainability, followed by interactive Q&A sessions.
• Panel Sessions: Open discussions on pressing topics in sustainability from diverse perspectives.
• Submitted Talks: Participant-led submitted talks to show the current work in the field. Both full presentations and flash-talks available!
• Mattermost Forum: A growing online community to connect, discuss the content of the conference and to share thoughts: Click here to join the mattermost town square for discussions
  
• Recordings: All live talks will be recorded and made available to the registrants to allow for participation from all time zones.
  
  
• Proceedings: All contributors will have the option to submit proceedings published by SciPost.

 

Find us on social media on our LinkTr.ee or using #SustainableHEP.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event and collaborating to advance sustainability within High Energy Physics and beyond!

SustainableHEP26Poster.pdf

SustainableHEP26Poster.png

Wednesday 8 July

14:00 → 16:00 Plenary: Wednesday

14:00 Keynote opening talk

Speaker: Prof. Jagadish Shukla (George Mason University (US))

15:00 Eco gases in hig-energy physics detectors

Speaker: Prof. Archana Sharma (CERN)

16:00 → 16:15 Health Break

16:15 → 17:15 Submitted talks: Large scale projects and policy making - I

16:15 News from SC4RC 2026

We give an overview of the first instance of the Sustainability Conference for Responsible Research Computing (SC4RC). This conference took place from 4th-8th May at CERN, with the aim of creating a space where knowledge on environmentally sustainable research computing could be shared across different disciplines, and progress could be coordinated through networks created during the conference. We will share the outcomes and lessons learned.

Speaker: Rakhi Mahbubani (Rudjer Boskovic Institute (HR))

16:30 Sustainability recommendations from the European Strategy: a historical perspective

The latest European Strategy Update (ESUPP) has recently released its recommendations for the shorter and longer term future of particle physics, including deliberations on the next large energy frontier collider machine. Taking into account several sustainability-themed inputs, the recommendations include some focused on the sustainability of the HEP field. I will present the ESUPP recommendations, compare them to some of the inputs submitted and briefly put this in the historical perspective of the latest Snowmass (2021) exercise in the U.S. and of the previous European Strategy Update in 2021.

Speaker: Veronique Boisvert (Royal Holloway, University of London)

16:45 Nikhef's sustainability roadmap

Nikhef is the national high-energy physics laboratory in the Netherlands. As an institute, Nikhef intends to be climate neutral by 2035. The ‘Sustainable Nikhef Roadmap’ details how the institute intends to achieve this ambition along the five lines of travel, energy for the building, waste, behaviour and environmental impact of research. A carbon footprint study shows that a number of important steps have already been taken. For example, Nikhef employees now fly less compared to before COVID. And other sources of CO2 emissions have also started to decline. There is however still some work to do to reach the target. In this presentation we'll outline the status and the next steps.

Speaker: Catharina Vaendel (Nikhef)

17:00 The ULISSE Project: an Opportunity for CERN's waste heat large-scale recycling

The ULISSE project originated from the author’s Master’s thesis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL, 1993–1995), which focused on CERN’s massive waste heat recovering to correct the winter temperature drop of Geneva’s drinking water network (CORSAIRE ‘free heating’ process, i.e. without a heat pump). A year after, this was linked to a sub-lake seasonal heat storage system (Lake Geneva) and presented (poster session) as a Contribution on the 10th General conference of the European Physical Society (EPS 10 Trends in Physics) in Sevilla September 1996.

Today, 30 years later, the basic concept, beside industrial waste heat recycling (i.e. air-conditioning, datacentres, etc.), includes solar energy and expands its applications and environmental objectives, such as protecting lakes from the harmful effects of Global Warming.

The ULISSE (Under Lake Infrastructure for thermal capture and Storage of Solar Energy) system/project aims to restore deep oxygenation and the circulation of nutrients vital to the ecosystem of large Alpine lakes under GW stress, as well as to save winter electricity for the surrounding Thermo-Lacustrine Networks (TLN) used for urban cooling and heating. As an example, the implementation of ULISSE, combined with the development of TLNs in Switzerland’s 15 largest lakes, would eliminate one-third (3 TWh*) of the projected national structural electricity deficit for the winter semester of 2050 (electricity to meet our needs for transportation, heating, and cooling through renewable energy sources, involves to phase out fossil fuels by 2050).

The exploratory study for the ULISSE project, selected between 77 proposals and funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), was conducted at Geneva's University of Applied Sciences (HEPIA, 2021–2023). Today, the ULISSE project is in the process of forming a public-private advanced research consortium, followed by a full-scale demonstration pilot in 2030. The ULISSE Consortium is looking forward for partners who are conCERNed by Sustainability…

(3 TWh = 2 + 1 TWh from the winter “free heating*” (without heat pumps) of the public or in-building drinking water networks also outside lake regions)

Speaker: Mr William van Sprolant (CvS énergies sàrl)

17:15 → 18:15 Submitted talks: Sustainable computation - I

17:15 Open Event Generation

The LHC physics programme involves a vast amount of Monte Carlo event simulation. This contribution reviews current efforts towards sharing the generated events as Open Data. Open Event Generation helps reduce duplication of effort and resource consumption, and benefits the whole High Energy Physics community. We give examples of use cases and user experiences, discuss financial and environmental savings, and suggest future directions.

Speakers: Julie Hogan (Brown University, Bethel University (US)), Rakhi Mahbubani (Rudjer Boskovic Institute (HR)), Sabine Kraml (LPSC Grenoble), Zach Marshall (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (US))

17:30 Reducing simulation-related emissions in rare-event searches through optimised event biasing

Rare-event search experiments are continuously extending their sensitivities to unprecedented levels. Achieving these feats requires increasingly small backgrounds, partly as a result of improved shielding schemes that can suppress external backgrounds by several orders of magnitude. Detailed detector and shielding simulations are required to attain a good understanding of experimental backgrounds, and the achieved sensitivity. Studies have suggested, however, that simulations and computing-related tasks contribute approximately 10% to the average particle physicist's carbon footprint [1]. With backgrounds now frequently below 0.01 counts per kg of target per keV$_{\rm ee}$ of energy, said simulations require increasingly more computing resources thereby growing a researcher's computing-related carbon footprint. Event biasing is often applied to mitigate this issue, particularly in shielding simulations, yet there is a lack of studies providing systematic guidance on how to best optimise biasing techniques for statistical precision and CPU-time, limiting the obtained benefit. Such an optimisation study for the importance-splitting biasing technique implemented in GEANT4 will be discussed, focused on balancing statistical precision with simulation CPU-time, alongside how this can best reduce the average researcher's carbon footprint.

[1] Valerie S. Lang et al. “Know your footprint — Evaluation of the professional carbon footprint for individual researchers in high energy physics and related fields”. In: npj Climate Action 4.1 (Mar. 2025). ISSN: 2731-9814. DOI: 10.1038/s44168- 025- 00232- 7. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44168- 025-00232-7.

Speaker: Dr Lachlan Milligan (University of Birmingham)

17:45 Energy efficiency of a GPU-based computing system in HEP

In this talk we introduce the energy efficiency as a new metric for evaluating both hardware platforms based on Graphic Processor Units (GPU), and algorithm optimisations at High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. We develop a method to compute the energy efficiency for the case of the first high level trigger (HLT1) of the LHCb experiment, relating the throughput with GPU specifications such as the number of cores, clock frequency, memory bandwidth and thermal design power. The model can be extended to other HEP experiments to make decisions and reach sustainable computing ecosystems.

Speaker: Jiahui Zhuo (Univ. of Valencia and CSIC (ES))

18:00 Reducing the compute used for calorimeter simulation

Simulation is a major computational expense in HEP - calorimeter simulation in particular drives the overall energy cost of our physics analysis. Future detectors will include more detailed calorimeters than ever, and the data analysis will require unprecedented statistics from simulation.

Fast generative models developed by our group are redefining the possibilities; creating simulations 100 times more efficient. In this talk I describe key elements of data format and attention masking that facilitate our ultralight ML models. Additionally, I address Jevon's paradox in our field, and consider the importance of realistic metrics to create "good" efficiency.

Speaker: Henry Day-Hall (desy)

Thursday 9 July

14:00 → 14:45 Plenary: Thursday

14:00 TBC

14:45 → 15:30 Submitted talks: Sustainable computation - II

14:45 Towards Unified Power and Efficiency Monitoring Across the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid

The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) provides the distributed computing infrastructure required to support both LHC and non-LHC experiments. With the upcoming HL-LHC era, the expected increase in computing demand makes power efficiency and sustainability increasingly important challenges for the HEP community. However, monitoring power consumption at the level of grid job slots remains a missing component of current workload management systems. While individual computing centres can monitor power consumption locally, maintaining a consistent view across heterogeneous clusters and repeatedly benchmarking systems after hardware or configuration changes is time-consuming and often impractical for sites.

This work presents a lightweight and scalable framework for unified power and efficiency monitoring across WLCG sites by leveraging existing benchmarking and monitoring infrastructures already deployed at computing centres. The proposed approach minimizes operational overhead for site administrators while enabling continuous collection of power-related metrics from thousands of worker nodes across heterogeneous environments. Two deployment approaches are currently supported: a systemd-based collector and an implementation integrated with existing Prometheus infrastructures, allowing straightforward adoption across a broad range of sites.

The collected data enables large-scale analysis of dynamic power consumption under realistic workloads and varying utilization levels, providing load-aware power estimation and performance-per-watt characterization across different hardware architectures and sites. Initial studies demonstrate that the framework can support improved accounting of computing resources and more representative estimation of workload efficiency. In addition to direct measurements, this work introduces a power/core modeling approach that enables characterization of the broader WLCG infrastructure, including sites without direct power measurements.

Speaker: Natalia Diana Szczepanek (CERN)

15:00 Operational challenges of the Event Processing Nodes GPU farm at ALICE Experiment

Operational challenges of the Event Processing Nodes GPU farm at ALICE Experiment
F. Ronchetti (CERN), G. Erba (Goethe U.) on behalf of the ALICE Collaboration
The ALICE Collaboration Event Processing Nodes (EPN) farm is a high-density GPU HPC infrastructure designed for real-time reconstruction of 50 kHz Pb–Pb collisions during CERN LHC Run 3. Comprising 350 nodes and 2800 GPUs and delivering about 42 PFLOP/s single-precision peak performance, it represents the largest computing farm at CERN in terms of compute capacity. Beyond raw performance, the EPN has been conceived and operated with sustainability as a central design principle, addressing energy efficiency, resource optimization, hardware longevity, and reduced operational overhead.
This contribution focuses on the architectural and organizational choices that have enabled a sustainable operation model for a physics-critical HPC facility maintained continuously by a small, dedicated team. Sustainability is addressed holistically, from compute efficiency to infrastructure services.
The talk discusses how sustainable design principles spanning cooling, power, hardware utilization and automation made possible continuous 24/7 operation of a large-scale GPU farm with low manpower requirements and reduced operational overhead.

Speaker: Federico Ronchetti (CERN)

15:15 Carbon-Aware Scheduling for Sustainable Computing

This contribution investigates carbon aware compute scheduling using the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as an example case. The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) consumes approximately 1.25 TWh of energy per year during LHC runs, with computing jobs dispatched immediately regardless of the carbon intensity of the local electricity grid. The Sustainable Queue is presented, a carbon-aware scheduler that delays flexible ATLAS computing jobs to periods of lower carbon intensity using a tiered percentile threshold system. The scheduler requires no machine learning or carbon forecasting and operates entirely on publicly available grid data. Scenario analysis shows that grid decarbonisation improves the queue performance, while increasing CPU capacity alone reduces it. These first results give an idea of constraints and opportunities of temporal shifting in these contexts and are meant to be a stepping stone for more in-depth investigations.

Speaker: Ms Jesica Sabau (University of Sheffield)

15:30 → 16:00 Submitted talks: Sustainable detector and material development - I

15:30 Towards more sustainable operation of Resistive Plate Chambers in the Compact Muon Solenoid

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is one of the two general-purpose experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), performing precision measurements of Standard Model processes and searches for new physics. The CMS Muon System includes more than 1,000 Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs), gaseous detectors that provide nanosecond-level time resolution, essential for muon triggering and reconstruction. These capabilities will be even more critical during the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the LHC upgrade phase with significantly increased luminosity and higher background rates. CMS RPCs currently operate with a gas mixture of 95.2% C$_{2}$H$_2$F$_4$ (high primary ionization yield), 4.5% iC$_4$H$_{10}$ (suppression of photon-feedback effects), and 0.3% SF$_6$ (electron quencher). Because C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$ and SF$_6$ have large global warming potential, CMS has implemented mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in line with evolving CERN and European Union policies, while preserving detector performance for high-rate data taking. Meanwhile, degradation of gas pipes in RPC barrel chambers have led to leaks. More than 100 chambers were repaired with an initial protocol that replaced only the damaged pipe segment; however, additional breaks sometimes appeared elsewhere along the line. A new leak repair procedure has recently been developed, restoring 10 chambers and permanently recovering detectors previously taken out of operation. In addition, a recuperation system has been deployed to recover and reinject C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$ with an efficiency of about 80%. This contribution presents these operational strategies and the latest R&D on alternative gas mixtures aiming to replace GHG components. Recent results show good detector performance, with efficiencies above 95% at high background rates and stable cluster size, while longevity studies are ongoing.

Speaker: Joao Pinheiro (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (BR))

15:45 Sustainable Cryogenic Infrastructure and Solid-State Millimeter-Wave Microwave Technology for Polarized Target System at the University of New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire Nuclear Physics Polarized Target Group operates an advanced polarized target system for high-precision nuclear physics experiments. These experiments require a combination of low-temperature cryogenic operation, strong magnetic fields, nuclear magnetic resonance polarimetry, and a dedicated millimeter-wave microwave system for dynamic nuclear polarization. A major challenge in operating such systems is the high consumption and increasing cost of liquid helium, which is essential for maintaining the cryogenic environment required for polarized target operation. To address this challenge, UNH has integrated a dedicated closed-loop helium liquefier system that captures, purifies, and re-liquefies helium gas exhausted from the target cryostat. This system allows helium to be recovered and reused, reducing dependence on external helium supply and supporting more sustainable long-term target operations. In parallel, the UNH polarized target program has developed and operated a specialized solid-state millimeter-wave microwave system for dynamic nuclear polarization. Compared with traditional continuous-wave microwave extended interaction oscillator systems, the solid-state millimeter-wave approach can provide a more compact, stable, and efficient microwave source with reduced heat load on the target, which is especially important for maintaining low-temperature operation near 1 K. This presentation discusses the technical design and operational performance of the UNH closed-loop helium liquefier system and its role within the broader polarized target infrastructure. We also highlight the connection between cryogenic stability, microwave delivery, target heat load, and polarization performance in dynamic nuclear polarization studies. By transitioning from a traditional “boil-off to atmosphere” model to a sustainable internal helium recovery cycle, the UNH system significantly reduces helium waste, lowers operational risk associated with helium supply volatility, and supports reliable operation of polarized targets for nuclear physics research. The combined development of sustainable cryogenics and low-heat-load polarized-target microwave technology provides a model for how medium-scale university laboratories can support advanced nuclear physics instrumentation while improving efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and maintaining the demanding conditions required for high-precision spin-physics experiments.

Speaker: Muhammad Farooq (University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, US)

16:00 → 16:15 Health Break

16:15 → 18:00 Panel discussion

Friday 10 July

14:00 → 15:00 Plenary: Friday

14:00 Sustainability and the European Particle Physics Strategy Update 2026

Speaker: Ben Shepherd (STFC)

15:00 → 15:45 Submitted talks: Sustainable detectors and material development - II

15:00 The CH4rLiE Project: A Novel Approach to Methane Recovery based on CERN gas recuperation systems

In recent years, CERN has implemented various strategies to minimize the usage of greenhouse gases (GHG) and prevent their release into the atmosphere. Among these, CF4 plays a significant role, accounting for approximately 20% of CERN’s direct GHG emissions. Mitigation strategies have included the research into environmentally friendly gas mixtures for detectors and the development of gas recirculation and recuperation systems designed to reuse exhaust gas. Building on this extensive experience, the CH4 Livestock Emission (CH4rLiE) project has developed a prototype for methane capture in barn environments.
Compared to CO2, methane has a significantly higher Global Warming Potential (GWP), with human-produced methane accounting for roughly 23% of global warming. As a single diary cow can release approximately 110 kg of methane annually, emissions from livestock farms are substantial. While several initiatives attempt to mitigate this by modifying animal feed, CH4rLiE employs a specialized recovery system derived from the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers CF4 recovery systems to capture methane that has already been produced and dispersed into the atmosphere.
This contribution presents the phases of the project, which concludes in February 2026. We report results from the study of gas adsorption by porous materials and the characterization of methane emissions via diffusion simulations and in situ barn measurements. Finally, the design of the capture prototype is discussed, alongside the first results from its real-world operation in a barn environment.

Speaker: Ilaria Vai (Pavia University and INFN (IT))

15:15 Long-Term Study of Eco-Friendly Gas Mixtures for RPCs at CERN GIF++

Gaseous detectors play a crucial role in high energy physics experiments. Their operation often relies on fluorinated gases with a very high Global Warming Potential (GWP). As environmental concerns grow and regulations become increasingly stringent, the development of sustainable gas mixtures has become a global priority.

Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) operated in avalanche mode typically use high performance gas mixtures based on high-GWP F-gases such as C₂H₂F₄ and SF₆. Within the RPC ECOGas@GIF++ Collaboration, a long term R&D program has investigated eco-friendly gas mixtures for RPCs and assessed their performance under irradiation. RPCs operated with an HFO-1234ze/CO₂ mixture were exposed to high particle fluxes at CERN GIF++, accumulating O(10² mC/cm²) over three years. This ageing campaign is now complete, and the detectors’ performance has been systematically evaluated across a broad range of rates.

Preliminary final results from the campaign together with future perspectives will be presented in this talk.

Speaker: RPC EcoGas@GIF++ Collaboration

15:30 Ageing effects in RPC detectors operated with eco-friendly gas mixtures

Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) have been widely employed in HEP experiments over the past decades for muon triggering and identification thanks to their low cost per unit area and excellent performance in terms of detection efficiency, as well as space and time resolution. The standard gas mixture for RPCs operated in avalanche mode is primarily based on R134a, a greenhouse gas, whose usage and procurement is restricted by European regulations. An intensive R&D activity has thus been undertaken by the RPC community to identify eco-friendly alternatives. New R134a-free gas mixtures have been investigated and their long-term performance has been assessed through a dedicated ageing campaign started in 2022 at the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF++). After three years of irradiation, ageing effects are being studied through detailed inspections of the electrode surfaces, complemented by dedicated analyses with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The current results of this study and the future perspectives are presented in this contribution.

Speaker: Liliana Congedo

15:45 → 16:00 Health Break

16:00 → 17:00 Submitted talks: Sustainable detectors and material development - III

16:00 Environment-friendly gas mixtures for the ATLAS Phase-2 Resistive Plate Chambers

The Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) are gaseous detectors with excellent timing performance and are used for triggering on muons in the LHC experiments. They operate with the standard gas mixture, composed of C2H2F4/i -C4H10/SF6, because it allows the detector operation in avalanche mode, as required by the high-luminosity collider experiments. The gas density, the low current and the comfortable avalanche-streamer separation guarantee high detection efficiency, rate capability and longevity. This gas mixture has a high Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1430 due to the presence of C2H2F4 (GWP~1450) and SF6 (GWP~22400). As these gases are progressively being phased out for industrial applications, their future availability is expected to decrease. Consequently, the development of alternative eco-friendly gas mixtures has become a priority for all experiments at CERN. The LHC experiments are meanwhile adopting an intermediate solution in order to reduce the C2H2F4 emissions, that consists of the addition of 30%CO2(GWP~1) in the standard gas, allowing the reduction of GWP. In this work, the performance of the ATLAS RPC detectors foreseen for the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) phase, with 1 mm gas gap thickness, is presented, using gas mixtures that fully replace the high-GWP components. In particular, mixtures with GWP below 10, based on C₃H₂F₄ / CO₂ / i-C₄H₁₀ / C₃H₂ClF₃, are tested. The tests are performed at the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN in presence of a muon beam, under conditions that closely reproduce the high-rate gamma irradiation background foreseen in the HL-LHC environment.

Speaker: Giorgia Proto (Max Planck Society (DE))

16:15 Matching sustainability and detector longevity for ATLAS RPCs HL-LHC runs

The muon trigger system of the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider relies on about 3700 Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) operated in avalanche mode with a gas mixture based on R134a, i-C₄H₁₀, and SF₆. While this mixture has provided stable operation, high efficiency, and excellent time resolution since 2009, it presents two major limitations for long-term operation: the increasing difficulty in procuring R134a and SF₆ due to their high global warming potential (GWP), and the production of chemically aggressive fluoride radicals that negatively affect RPC longevity, particularly under high-intensity running conditions.
To address these issues, a progressive strategy of fluorinated gas reduction has been pursued since 2022, targeting both environmental impact and detector ageing. Following extensive validation at the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF++), a first new mixture was deployed in 2023, replacing 30% of R134a with CO₂, achieving a ~17% GWP reduction while preserving performance and lowering the operating voltage. A further optimization in 2025, with a reduced SF₆ fraction, led to a total GWP reduction of about 25%.
These changes were validated with Run 3 collision data and dedicated scans, showing stable operation, full efficiency at reduced voltage, and improved resilience under irradiation, in agreement with ageing studies at GIF++. This stepwise approach demonstrates a viable path to extend RPC lifetime and sustainability toward HL-LHC conditions.
As a next step, further efforts will focus on replacing SF₆ with an alternative component, aiming to reach a total GWP reduction of about 36% with respect to the standard mixture. A dedicated long-term ageing campaign will be carried out to validate the new mixture and assess its compatibility with sustained operation in the ATLAS RPC system.

Speaker: Sinem Simsek (Istinye University (TR))

16:30 Designing the next generation of materials for rare-event searches: high-strength, ultra-pure copper-based alloys

The quest to directly detect dark matter and unravel the nature of neutrinos has driven the development of experimental techniques with unprecedented sensitivity, placing extreme demands on detector-material-induced backgrounds. As a result, the choice of construction materials, particularly those in direct contact with the target medium, has become a critical limiting factor. Electroformed copper, thanks to its exceptional radiopurity, is the material of choice for low-background experiments. However, its limited mechanical strength and ductility restrict its application for large-scale, high-pressure, or load-bearing components.

To overcome these limitations, a materials design approach is proposed. The combination of electrodeposition techniques with CALPHAD-based modelling enables rapid predictive design of alloy compositions and thermal processing, allowing the navigation of the complex parameter space of radiopurity, mechanical strength, and manufacturability. The recent advances in the synthesis and design optimisation of high-strength, radiopure copper-based alloys will be presented and the physics impact will be illustrated through case studies.

Energy savings and efficient use of materials are at the centre of this project; for example, the proposed materials design approach accelerates the R&D phase and reduces the required direct experimentation cycles. This results in less energy and materials usage during development. The obtained optimised thermal processing parameters result in reduced thermal treatment temperatures and duration, leading to materials with the desired properties at lower energy and material cost. Furthermore, mechanically enhanced materials lead to reduced required thickness of specific structures. These developments, initially motivated by fundamental research, could also prove important to other applications, such as electronics, transport, metal purification for upcycling and clean energy technologies.

Speaker: Dimitra Spathara (University of Birmingham)

16:45 Study of the properties of sustainable materials for shielding against ionizing radiations

The climate change is, with the finite amounts of resources and the loss in biodiversity, one of the major socio-ecological problems faced by humanity. They have been recognized as urgent matters by international bodies, and regular national recommendations or international agreements set scopes to be reached in the next few decades or even years. As these scopes appear as simultaneously insufficient and challenging, there is a consensus on the fact that all activities should work on reducing their greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, and their material and biodiversity footprints. Sustainability aspects therefore recently received an increasing interest in the high energy physics community.

For new projects or extensions, studies showed that concrete is an important source of GHG emissions and of non-recyclable material. While concrete can not be easily avoided for elements like the tunnel vaults, the concrete blocs used for shielding against ionizing radiations could instead be made of more sustainable materials.

I will present various possible sustainable materials and explain why their shielding properties can be expected to be similar to those of concrete. I will then show the results of calculations and of preliminary measurements for shielding against photons, from energies dominated by Compton scattering to energies at which an electromagnetic shower is created. Finally, I will also show that several sustainable materials could be suitable shieldings to neutrons.

Speaker: Julien Faivre (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR))

17:00 → 18:15 Submitted talks: Large scale projects and policy making - II

17:00 Assessing Sustainability Performance in Large Research Infrastructures

Sustainability is an increasing priority for large research infrastructures (RIs), driven by high energy demand, limited material resources, climate objectives, and rising expectations from society and funding agencies. As energy-intensive facilities, RIs must ensure that scientific performance is aligned with responsible environmental practices, supported by robust and comparable methods for sustainability assessment beyond qualitative statements.
This contribution presents a structured framework for evaluating sustainability performance in large RIs. The framework is organized around three core domains: resources, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions, and is articulated through high-level sustainability indicators. Scientific output and operational time are incorporated as normalization and weighting parameters to enable meaningful, context-sensitive comparisons. The framework is proposed as a practical decision-support tool to enhance transparency and support evidence-based sustainability strategies.

Speaker: Falastine Abusaif (KIT)

17:15 Developing a Roadmap for Sustainable Cryomodule Design

As large-scale research infrastructures face increasing pressure to minimise their environmental footprint, the EU-funded Innovate for Sustainable Accelerating Systems (iSAS) programme aims to develop and integrate energy-efficient technologies into superconducting accelerators. Within iSAS, Work Package 5 (WP5) focuses on establishing a roadmap for sustainable cryomodule design by incorporating emerging technologies.
This presentation summarises current progress, beginning with the establishment of a robust, evidence-based foundation grounded in a comprehensive review of the state of the art and a structured comparison of leading international designs.
This work includes a full lifecycle assessment of European Spallation Source (ESS) cryomodules, from design to operation, alongside a systematic benchmarking study of six major facilities (ESS, LHC, XFEL, PIP-II, SNS, and LCLS-II). The analysis focuses on high-beta cryomodules across five key domains: beam and RF parameters; cryogenic systems and thermal management; cryomodule architecture and components; commissioning experience; and operational performance and availability.
The results highlight the importance of standardisation, modularisation, industrial readiness, and collaborative governance in achieving both technical excellence and long-term sustainability. Key design trade-offs and the parameters most strongly influencing efficiency, reliability, and lifecycle performance are also identified.
The next phase of WP5 will develop a parametric design framework for a sustainable cryomodule, serving as a technical blueprint for iSAS. Building on previous studies, this effort aims to deliver a unified, generic design and an engineering toolbox with practical guidelines for implementation across current and future research infrastructures.

Speaker: Nuno Elias (European Spallation Source (ERIC))

17:30 GreenPhysECS: Exploring ECS for Energy-Aware Parallel Research Software

GreenPhysECS is an exploratory project investigating whether the Entity-Component-System (ECS) architectural model can make parallel, energy-aware research software more accessible to early-career researchers. ECS - widely used in the games industry - has seen little application in research. This project examines whether adopting ECS from the outset helps novice developers produce concurrent-friendly simulation code with integrated energy tracking.

This talk presents student-led case studies from MPhys projects across two distinct domains. The first applies ECS to computational fluid dynamics, implementing both finite difference and smoothed particle hydrodynamics approaches to simulate compressible gas flow, with CPU energy consumption tracked across different time integration methods. The second applies the same ECS framework to stochastic epidemic modelling, progressing from SIR (Suspected-Infected-Recovered) models to spatial and network extensions and finally to a HUD (Healthy-Undetectable-Detectable) model for early detection of crop disease using sentinel plants, including exploratory extensions beyond the initial models considered.

Taken together, these case studies provide early evidence that ECS can support the development of modular, naturally parallelisable simulation code by early-career researchers, while making energy measurement and comparison straightforward to integrate into the development process.

Speakers: Mr Michael Sparks (The University of Manchester (GB)), Mr Mattias Evans (University of Manchester), Mr Oluwole Delano (University of Manchester)

17:45 Life cycle assessment of the LHCb data centres Overall impacts & preliminary results for Upgrade II

As the global energy demand of data centers continues to rise, understanding and mitigating their environmental impacts has become a major challenge. This presentation provides a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the LHCb detector, with a particular focus on the implications of the LHCb Upgrade II.

This work examines how the upcoming changes implied by Upgrade II of the LHCb experiment may affect the environmental footprint of the experiment and identifies the main contributing components, highlighting key drivers of future environmental performance.

Speaker: Mr Roman Dandoy (Universite de Liege (BE))

18:00 Increasing sustainability in the community of Research on Universe and Matter

Measures towards an increased awareness of sustainability in the scientific community of research on universe and matter (ErUM) are outlined. Building upon an action plan defined in 2023, a number of points have been identified to be reached at different time-scales, including, for example, monitoring of energy consumption at computing job level, designing software for reduced energy consumption or training scientists in best practices. Following a detailed analysis of the measures, this contribution presents initial findings regarding the progress made to date. This has revealed a differentiated picture regarding the implementation of various measures, reflecting both the integration of sustainability into project phases and areas that do not yet monitor resource use.
The cross-disciplinary goals have been followed up by the ErUM action group Sustainability in Digital Transformation last year. In this context, a multi-step framework for integrating sustainability into everyday research practices has been developed to identify concrete examples of actionable measures. Sharing insights from initial pilot implementations in Germany this presentation also aims at broadening the use cases towards more global efforts in sustainability.

Speaker: Andreas Ralph Redelbach (Goethe University Frankfurt (DE))