Eight labs and one bio-repository volunteered to participate in the 2019 NIH Freezer Challenge to improve freezer management, increase freezer reliability, and reduce energy consumption. The challenge was held from January 1 to April 1 of 2019. Challenge initiatives ranged from maintenance options, incuding: performing a freezer defrost, changing the temperature setting of Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) freezers from -80°C to -70°C, and discarding samples that are no longer needed. Simply changing the temperature setting of an Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) freezer from -80°C to -70°C reduces energy consumption by about 30%. The results shown in the table below show the power each lab has to make a positive change towards protecting the environment and increasing freezer reliability. These savings are from only 9 labs; imagine what we could do if the entire NIH joined in! Participate in this year's Freezer Challenge to help out!
Participation by Lab and IC
|
IC |
Lab
|
|---|
| NCI |
Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis |
|
NHGRI |
Reproductive Cancer Genetics Section |
| NIA | Laboratory of Clinical Investigation (LCI) Clinical Core Biorepository |
| NIDCD |
Section on Sensory Cell Development and Function, Kindt Lab |
|
NIDDK |
Genetics and Metabolism Section of LDB |
|
NIDDK |
Karen Usdin's Lab |
|
NIDDK |
Liver Disease Branch |
|
NIEHS |
MSRSG/ESCBL/DIR |
|
NINDS |
Viral Immunology Section at Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurovirology |
A summary of the energy savings, costs savings, and greenhouse gas reductions are shown in the table below. Visit the freezer challenge Power BI report for additional freezer challenge data.
https://nems.nih.gov/sustain/Pages/Freezer-Challenge-Power-BI.aspx
2019 NIH Freezer Challenge Annual Savings
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The following table shows the complete list of initiatives completed as part of this challenge.
Detailed Participation Results
|
Challenge Initiative |
Total
|
|---|
|
Conduct a complete freezer defrost |
26 |
|
Discard samples that are no longer needed (-86°C) |
11,097 |
|
Discard samples that are no longer needed (-30°C/-40°C) |
652 |
|
Transfer long-term samples to LN2 freezers |
20,521 |
|
Maintain an electronic sample inventory |
106 |
|
Barcode Samples |
14 |
|
Consolidate Samples |
1,003 |
|
Share freezer space with other researchers |
91 |
|
Retire unnecessary freezers |
3 |
|
Change the ULT freezer temperature setting to -70°C |
18 |
|
Store samples at appropriate temperatures |
16 |