The new normal: Embracing a wash-free IVC future

Cage wash infrastructure represents one of the largest resource commitments in vivarium design—consuming water, steam, energy, and square footage that single-use alternatives can substantially reduce or eliminate. Jeremy Jenson examines what a broad industry transition to wash-free individually ventilated caging would mean in practice: quantifying the potential carbon footprint reduction, modeling the impact on U.S. research capacity and facility programming, and analyzing changes in utility demand across water, steam, and HVAC systems. For architects, planners, and facility leaders evaluating next-generation vivarium design, he provides a data-grounded framework for weighing the operational and sustainability implications of a wash-free model.