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International Freezer Challenge

The International Freezer Challenge is a friendly competition co-hosted by I2SL and My Green Lab to promote best practices in cold storage management. Participants earn points based on the amount of energy they save and the cold storage management practices they implement. Learn more how winners are determined on the Freezer Challenge website. 

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In 2024, the Freezer Challenge saw an unprecedented number of labs participating, with over 3,100 labs representing 239 organizations in 35 countries working to reduce their cold storage energy use. This year’s Freezer Challenge participants saved a record-breaking 31.8 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. These energy savings helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent—an over 50 percent increase from last year’s challenge! Since 2017, challenge participants have helped save an incredible 76.5 million kWh of electricity.

2024 International Freezer Challenge Winners

Biotech/Pharmaceutical Sector Winners

  • Top Organization Award: Amgen

  • Winning Streak Award: AstraZeneca 

  • Large Lab Award​: Vertex, Boston Research, Biology, United States

  • Medium Lab Award: Labcorp, Sample Management Harrogate, United Kingdom

  • Small Lab Award: AstraZeneca, Gothenburg Regional HBS Centre, Sweden

  • Biorepository Award: Bristol Myers Squibb, Specimen Library, United States

  • Biorepository Winning Streak Award: Labcorp Central Laboratory Services, Labcorp Biorepository, United States

Academic Sector Winners

  • Top Organization Award: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • Lab Winning Streak Award: Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, GI-Onc Lab

  • Large Lab Award​: Coventry University School of Life Sciences

  • Medium Lab Award: University of Michigan Histocompatibility Laboratory

  • Small Lab Award: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  • Biorepository Award: The Paris Brain Institute Cell Culture Facility 

Hospital/Clinical/Other Winners

  • Top Organization Award: Boston Children's Hospital

  • Large Lab Award​: University Hospital Padova, Laboratory Medicine Group, Italy

  • Medium Lab Award: Synlab Group, Genetics/CrioDNA Laboratory, Italy

  • Small Lab Award: Synlab Group, Scientific Research and Innovation Services Laboratory, United Kingdom

  • Biorepository Award: Q2 Solutions, IQVIA Biorepository, United States

Government Sector  Winners

  • Top Organization Award:​ Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

  • Winning Streak Award: U.S. National Institutes of Health

  • Large Lab Award​: Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Drug Safety Testing Center

  • Medium Lab Award: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Central Laboratory

  • Small Lab Award: Hamburg Water, Trink und Abwasserlabor, Germany

  • Biorepository Award: Office of the Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Center for Cancer Research

Honorable Mention, Organizations

  • University of Michigan

  • Leiden University Medical Center

  • SYNLAB Group

  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

  • University of Alabama Birmingham

  • Sanofi

  • Labcorp

  • Evotec

Honorable Mention, Laboratories

  • Johnson & Johnson Oncology Spring House

  • Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hepa-Gastro

  • Evotec, Hamburg, Sample Management Lab

  • International Flavors & Fragrances Madison Process R&D Lab

  • Labcorp Mechelen Biorepository

  • U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Precision for Medicine

  • University of British Columbia BioBank

  • AstraZeneca South San Francisco Biobank

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