Continued U. of I. Success in the Freezer Challenge

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a recognized leader in cold-storage sample management practices and has recently earned second place worldwide in the International Laboratory Freezer Challenge’s “Academic Sector” category for the collective energy conservation efforts undertaken by researchers on campus.

The university joined the My Green Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) challenge in 2017; since then, the Urbana campus has won or been presented with a special award for eight straight years by operating its labs with efficient and sustainable sample management processes.

This year, 103 campus laboratory groups, representing 71 research spaces, combined to save an estimated 575 kilowatt-hours (kWh)/day, or 209,985 kWh/year, in the challenge. That is equivalent to the annual electricity use of 20 typical American homes. To achieve those results, participants implemented more than 1,200 sustainable actions, including freezer retirements, maintenance, temperature optimization, and the use of shared equipment.

An online platform for entering results has made it easier for lab members to collaborate, allowing teams to track progress, share updates, and complete score sheets together. The system streamlined participation and improved data accuracy across the university.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Specialist Paul Foote said, “We’re proud to see both returning and new labs actively improving their practices. The enhanced participation platform made it even easier for lab teams to contribute and learn from each other’s successes.”

Top Performing Campus Labs

This year’s campus results featured the removal of over 3 million discarded research samples and the defrosting of more than 150 freezers and refrigerators to improve performance and efficiency. A comprehensive list of key laboratory actions is available on the F&S website. 

The top-performing campus laboratories in the last competition period included

• Shared Laboratories – College of Veterinary Medicine
• Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory – Illinois Natural History Survey
• Donovan Lab – Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition – College of ACES
• Ainsworth Laboratory – School of Integrative Biology
• Kim Lab – Department of Physics – Grainger College of Engineering

How to Join the Challenge

Researchers are encouraged to sign up and participate in the next Freezer Challenge, which will begin in January 2026. Contact Paul Foote, 217-244-1048, to enroll or for questions. More information about the competition is available at https://go.fs.illinois.edu/FreezerChallenge.

Campus involvement in the Freezer Challenge helps achieve energy reduction goals in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP).