What is the International Laboratory Freezer Challenge?
The International Laboratory Freezer Challenge (Freezer Challenge) is a competition designed to promote best practices in cold storage management. The Freezer Challenge covers all forms of cold storage, including refrigerators, freezers, and cold rooms. Labs participating in the challenge will be asked to submit an online score sheet.
Who can participate in the Freezer Challenge?
Any laboratories in the world can participate by signing up at freezerchallenge.org. Laboratories are defined as a group of people and their physical space working under one manager, researcher, or scientific mission.
When will the Freezer Challenge take place?
The 2024 Freezer Challenge will begin January 1, 2024 and continue until July 1, 2024. Scoresheets will be due by midnight PST on July 1, 2024. Labs are encouraged to work at their own pace to complete the Freezer Challenge during the intervening months.
It's after January and I just found out about the Freezer Challenge....can I still participate?
Absolutely! We have many labs that register for the competition in February, March, April, May, even June. You can count any actions on your 2024 scoresheet that your lab has done since August 1, 2023, so if you cleaned out samples, defrosted units, updated inventories, or any of the other best practices from August 2023 until now, you can count those on your scoresheet. Therefore, there is no disadvantage to registering after January for the competition. Go for it!
What are the benefits of participating in the Freezer Challenge?
Freezer Challenge participants will benefit from:
My lab did the Freezer Challenge last year - why should I do it again?
The frequency at which a lab team chooses to participate in the annual Freezer Challenge is of course personal preference. However, like a car, laboratory cold storage units need ongoing maintenance and care in order to run efficiently and perform well for years and years. Many of the actions in the Freezer Challenge are not “one and done”, so to speak. Preventative Maintenance should happen at least annually, sample clean-outs should happen on a regular basis too, especially when someone leaves a lab after working there for many years. Some of the actions are one-time changes, like changing ULT freezer set points to -70 C, or implementing a remote monitoring system, but a lot of the actions up front at the beginning of the scoresheet should be done regularly to ensure units are running efficiently, and to reduce risk of a unit failing.
I accidentally submitted my score sheet before it was completed - help!
No problem! Email us with "reopen scoresheet" in the subject line and let us know that you need access to your scoresheet again.
How is the Freezer Challenge scored?
Labs will receive points for taking the actions listed under Best Practices part of the website, which mirror the Freezer Challenge scoresheet. Learn more about how the competition is scored on our How Scoring Works page.
Are there Awards for winning the Freezer Challenge?
Yes! Learn more on our main Awards page.
The International Laboratory Freezer Challenge (Freezer Challenge) is a competition designed to promote best practices in cold storage management. The Freezer Challenge covers all forms of cold storage, including refrigerators, freezers, and cold rooms. Labs participating in the challenge will be asked to submit an online score sheet.
Who can participate in the Freezer Challenge?
Any laboratories in the world can participate by signing up at freezerchallenge.org. Laboratories are defined as a group of people and their physical space working under one manager, researcher, or scientific mission.
When will the Freezer Challenge take place?
The 2024 Freezer Challenge will begin January 1, 2024 and continue until July 1, 2024. Scoresheets will be due by midnight PST on July 1, 2024. Labs are encouraged to work at their own pace to complete the Freezer Challenge during the intervening months.
It's after January and I just found out about the Freezer Challenge....can I still participate?
Absolutely! We have many labs that register for the competition in February, March, April, May, even June. You can count any actions on your 2024 scoresheet that your lab has done since August 1, 2023, so if you cleaned out samples, defrosted units, updated inventories, or any of the other best practices from August 2023 until now, you can count those on your scoresheet. Therefore, there is no disadvantage to registering after January for the competition. Go for it!
What are the benefits of participating in the Freezer Challenge?
Freezer Challenge participants will benefit from:
- Reducing energy consumption, costs, and environmental impact of the lab
- Learning and applying proper cold storage maintenance techniques to help avoid future failures
- Removal of unneeded or unviable samples from cold storage units, freeing up that space for new samples without having to purchase additional refrigerators and freezers.
- Reduced costs associated with maintaining extraneous cold storage units.
- Improved researcher access to and security for viable samples.
- Development of ongoing cold storage management practices that support efficiency and maximize lab space utility.
- Participation recognition, plus awards!
My lab did the Freezer Challenge last year - why should I do it again?
The frequency at which a lab team chooses to participate in the annual Freezer Challenge is of course personal preference. However, like a car, laboratory cold storage units need ongoing maintenance and care in order to run efficiently and perform well for years and years. Many of the actions in the Freezer Challenge are not “one and done”, so to speak. Preventative Maintenance should happen at least annually, sample clean-outs should happen on a regular basis too, especially when someone leaves a lab after working there for many years. Some of the actions are one-time changes, like changing ULT freezer set points to -70 C, or implementing a remote monitoring system, but a lot of the actions up front at the beginning of the scoresheet should be done regularly to ensure units are running efficiently, and to reduce risk of a unit failing.
I accidentally submitted my score sheet before it was completed - help!
No problem! Email us with "reopen scoresheet" in the subject line and let us know that you need access to your scoresheet again.
How is the Freezer Challenge scored?
Labs will receive points for taking the actions listed under Best Practices part of the website, which mirror the Freezer Challenge scoresheet. Learn more about how the competition is scored on our How Scoring Works page.
Are there Awards for winning the Freezer Challenge?
Yes! Learn more on our main Awards page.
What is the Freezer Challenge registration deadline?
Online access to the 2024 Freezer Challenge scoresheet will begin January 1, 2024 and be ongoing through the end of the Freezer Challenge.
When will 2024 Freezer Challenge Scoresheets become available?
Online scoresheets will be made available to labs that register for the competition after January 1, 2024.
When must Freezer Challenge Score Sheets be completed?
Online Freezer Challenge scoresheets must be completed by midnight July 1, 2024.
If a company or research organization contracts out freezer space with a 3rd party company, how should this be managed for the Freezer Challenge? For example, company A owns the samples, but contracts with company B to store them long-term as company A's third party provider.
A component of the Freezer Challenge is rewarding laboratories that are taking action with their cold storage that is within their control – their time, dedication, effort, etc. And, those actions that affect energy efficiency will reduce costs for the building and institution where the cold storage units are. So even though Company A has samples at a third-party locations with Company B, Company A has no control over the management of those samples, and energy efficiency actions do not directly benefit Company A in this case. So Company A can do the Freezer Challenge, but should only count samples/freezers that are under their immediate control.
Company B should be encouraged to register for the Freezer Challenge on their own, and any cold storage best practices they implement at their own site would go toward Company B's score / benefit. They reap the benefits of those cold storage units they own running efficiently, and the subsequent cost savings too.
Our lab has already done a lot of the actions listed on the score sheet - will we be awarded points for previous actions taken?
In some cases, yes, such as if your ULT freezers are already set to -70 °C. For many scoresheet elements, we ask participants in the 2024 Freezer Challenge to only report actions your lab has done since August 1, 2023. This system of reporting rewards the labs and organizations that have done the most actions in the past year, all the way up to July 1, 2024. Many of the preventative maintenance best practices highlighted by the challenge, as well as sample management strategies, should be done on a regular basis in all laboratories, so we are encouraging that by requesting that labs only record actions they've taken in the previous year.
Additional FAQs discussed in the chat during our global kickoff event in Jan 2024 can be found here.
Who do I contact if I have additional questions?
All questions should be directed to [email protected]
