Join the 2022 Freezer Challenge Now!

The Freezer Challenge is a global competition for laboratories, designed to promote best practices in cold storage management. It harnesses the spirit of competition within and between laboratories to achieve greater energy efficiency, sample, integrity, sample access, risk prevention, and cost savings.

The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) and My Green Lab are partnering together for the sixth year in a row to run the 2022 International Laboratory Freezer Challenge! Freezer Challenge participants have already saved a cumulative 14.2 million kWh since 2017. That's enough to offset the carbon emissions associated with driving over 25 million miles in a passenger vehicle, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

Here's a short clip that summarizes the Freezer Challenge:

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Benefits to Participating 
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This challenge is designed to encourage laboratories to recognize the benefits of good cold storage management, such as:

• Removal of unneeded, unwanted, or non-viable samples from refrigeration units
• Reduced costs associated with maintaining refrigeration units.
• Improved researcher access to laboratory samples and reagents.
• Development of ongoing cold storage management practices that support energy efficiency and maximize space utility.

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Quick Facts
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Any laboratory in the world with cold storage units can participate!

It's a free program/competition!

Are you up for the challenge? If your lab uses ultra-ultra low temperature freezers (-150 °C), ultra-low temperature freezers (-70 °C to -80 °C), lab freezers (-40 °C to -20 °C), refrigerators, or cold rooms, you can earn points in the Freezer Challenge by taking any combination of actions listed below. In the majority of situations, earn 1 point for each action taken per cold storage unit. 

You can learn more about the cold storage best practices included in the Freezer Challenge here. The best practices are grouped into four categories:

• Good Management Practices

• Temperature Tuning
• Retirements & Upgrades

• Cutting-Edge Practices

​Awards are given to those labs and research organizations who have done the most to save energy and improve their sample storage.

Site Coordinators
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The site coordinator role is for research institutions that wish to know which labs from their organization are participating in the Freezer Challenge this year for internal purposes or to provide additional motivation for competing labs. Site coordinators are able to sign labs up to have a scoresheet, view scoresheets and responses for labs at their organization, and download a report detailing the scoresheet entries for all labs at their organization. Most laboratories participating in the Freezer Challenge do not need a site coordinator. If your organization would like to register a site coordinator, learn more and register here.

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Important Dates & Deadlines
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The 2022 Freezer Challenge will take place from January 1, 2022 to July 1, 2022 (six months). Freezer Challenge score sheets will be available beginning January 1st.  All scoresheets are due by ​July 1, 2022.

Click Here to Register!

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Check out our great list of resources to help participants succeed HERE.

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​Thank you to the 2022 Sponsors of the International Laboratory Freezer Challenge!