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International Laboratory Freezer Challenge

The International Freezer Challenge is a friendly competition co-sponsored by I²SL and My Green Lab designed to promote best practices for energy efficiency in cold storage management. Challenge winners are determined based on the amount of energy they save and can also earn points for sharing tips about their own cold storage best practices.

Congratulations to the 2023 Freezer Challenge winners! Nearly 2,000 labs from 27 countries and over 26,000 cold storage units participated in this year's challenge. Participants saved saved a total of 20.7 million kilowatt hours of energy—equivalent to 37.5 million miles driven by an average gas-powered vehicle! These savings also helped prevent over 14,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released. Since its inception in 2017, the International Freezer Challenge has saved 44.7 million kWh of energy.

• 2023 Biotech/Pharmaceutical Sector Winners
• Top Organization Award: AstraZeneca
• Winning Streak Award: Amgen
• Top Large Lab Award: Drug Safety Evaluation Lab for Janssen/Johnson & Johnson
• Top Medium Lab Award: Bioprocess Development (BD) Pre-Pivotal Drug Substance Technology (DST) of Amgen
• Top Small Lab Award: Biobank Gothenburg of AstraZeneca, Sweden
• Top Biorepository Award: Labcorp Biorepository, of Labcorp Central Laboratory Services

• 2023 Academic Sector Winners
• Top Organization Award: University of Alabama-Birmingham
• Winning Streak Award: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Lab Winning Streak Award: The Indiana CTSI Specimen Storage Facility at the Indiana University School of Medicine
• Top Large Lab Award: GI Onc at Johns Hopkins University
• Top Medium Lab Award: Illinois Natural History Survey-Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory
• Top Small Lab Award: Kerppola Lab of University of Michigan
• Top Biorepository Award: The Anatomy Dissection Lab, University College Dublin School of Veterinary Medicine, Ireland

• 2023 Government Sector Winners
• Top Government Organization Award: National Institutes of Health
• Top Large Lab Award: CFIA Greater Toronto Area Lab of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada
• Top Medium Lab Award: Biochemistry Laboratory of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom (UK)
• Top Small Lab Award: Biotoxin Chemistry Lab of Marine Institute, Ireland
• Top Biorepository Award: Molecular Biology of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK

• 2023 Hospital/Clinical/Other Winners
• Top Organization Award: Amsterdam UMC
• Winning Streak Award: Boston Children's Hospital
• Top Large Lab Award: Southwest Pathology Services of SYNLAB Group, UK
• Top Medium Lab Award: Lab of Experimental Immunology–Klein Lab of University Hospital Cologne, Germany
• Top Small Lab Award: Immunologic Monitoring and Cellular Products Laboratory of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center
• Top Biorepository Award: Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC) Biobank

• 2023 Honorable Mentions
• Organizations
• Institute of Cancer Research, UK
• Johns Hopkins University
• Genentech
• Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson
• Q Squared Solutions (IQVIA)
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
• Labs
• Cihakova Lab–Johns Hopkins University
• Quinn/Tobian Lab–Johns Hopkins University
• Edberg Lab–University of Alabama-Birmingham
• Ray Ming Lab–University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Clinical Research Specimen Processing (CRSP) Core, University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center
• TS&BA Pathology Lab–Amgen
• Cardiometabolic Disorders (ASF)–Amgen
• Lab Services in Slough, UK–Avantor/UCB
• AD Bioassay Cambridge–Biogen
• DTMP-LECP Team, Belgium–Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson
• Labcorp Biorepository–Labcorp Central Laboratory Services
• S&T Labs–Nestlé
• Maple Leaf Foods, Technical Services, Central Laboratory
• Integrated Diagnostics–LifeArc
• Biopathology Center at Nationwide Children's Abigail Wexner Research Institute
• Mark Andermann Lab–Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Pathology-Biobanking-Research–Amsterdam UMC
• Experimental Vascular Medicine Lab of Amsterdam UMC

Participants earned points through various efficiency actions, such as temperature tuning, retiring or upgrading old freezers, cleaning out unneeded samples, implementing cutting-edge practices, and more.

Winners will be featured in Lab Manager magazine and will be recognized on October 24 at the I²SL 2023 Annual Conference in Anaheim, California.

• Wondering how your fellow scientists implement cold storage best practices in a variety of lab environments? Hear from four panelists who have participated in My Green Lab and I²SL's Freezer Challenge. If interested in viewing the panel discussion, you can download the free recording here.



• Learn more about the 2022 Freezer Challenge through the video below and check out this article by Eppendorf in Lab Worldwide.

 

• Read about the 2021 winners in Nature and My Green Lab's blog and get inspired for the next Freezer Challenger! The winners were recognized during the 2021 I²SL Annual Conference in Atlanta.



• View the recording for My Green Lab's virtual event, Let's Talk Freezers. During the conversation, the 2021 Freezer Challenge sponsor organizations discussed their work and answered attendee questions about lab cold storage.
• Visit the Freezer Challenge Resources page to view the webinars "Decrease Energy Usage in the Laboratory With the Next Generation of Sustainable Ultra-Low Freezers" and "Beyond Power Consumption: Storing Efficiently at -80C."

I²SL and My Green Lab would like to thank the 2022 Freezer Challenge sponsors: