
FREEZER CHALLENGE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
Urban Champaign

SIGN UP for the 2022 competition open now!

ABOUT
The International Freezer Challenge is a worldwide competition, going on from now through July 1st 2022, that is focused on lowering energy usage. The objective of the challenge is to optimize sustainability of freezer management in laboratories, where individual labs work to implement optimal cold storage management in order to improve laboratory conservation. At the end of the competition, the most successful labs are rewarded through several categories, including academia, pharmaceutical and biotech, government, and clinical, hospital, private research, or other.
The Freezer Challenge at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is focused on engaging, educating, and motivating researchers, faculty, staff, and students to promote the best lab-management sample-storage practices and leadership in environmental stewardship. The Freezer Challenge is encouraged by the OVCRI's office with Leadership in Environmental Stewardship Certificates for all participants and awards for the top scoring labs are presented by the EcOlympics student group. We started by participating in the International Freezer Challenge in the 2016-2017 academic year. We have been quite successful in the competition ever since joining, and have ranked first in the Academic Organization category the past four years! Our successes have been assisted by our collaboration with EcoOlympics Student Organization; the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Division of Research Safety & Innovation; the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE); the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC); and Facilities & Services.
Learn more about the success of The Freezer Challenge at UIUC

WHY PARTICIPATE
Reducing energy consumption reduces costs and environmental impact of the lab.
Any type of laboratory is eligible to participate by working at its own pace to implement optimal cold storage management practices that save energy[...]
Be awarded and nationally recognized at the I2SL conference as the winning lab in your category.
Development of these ongoing cold storage management practices support efficiency and maximize space utility.
Learning and applying proper cold storage maintenance techniques to help avoid future failures.
Learn tips and strategies from fellow scientists in this video panel discussion.
2017
1055KWh
900,000+
KWh
125
Year Joined
Saved Daily in 2021
Total Saved to Date (2017-21)
Homes Electricity Use for 1 year
71
Researchers
74
Labs Participating
17
Buildings on Campus
15
Different Colleges
MEET THE RESEARCHERS
Meet Lucienne Burrus from the CABBI lab and hear her experience with the Freezer Challenge.

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LEARN MORE
Learn about our accomplishments in the 2021 International Freezer Challenge competition.

Learn about our accomplishments in the 2020 International Freezer Challenge competition.

Learn about our accomplishments in the 2019 International Freezer Challenge competition.
Learn about our accomplishments in the 2018 International Freezer Challenge competition.
Researchers comment on what made them successful and how they navigated the competition.

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