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Elemental Machines aims to enlist lab freezers in fight against climate change 

By Brian Buntz | July 11, 2022

Elemental Machines

[Image courtesy of Elemental Machines]

LabOps intelligence platform developer Elemental Machines is vying to boost enrollment in the Freezer Challenge, an annual competition intended to reduce the environmental impact of lab refrigerators, freezers and cold rooms. 

Organized by the nonprofit My Green Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), the Freezer Challenge attracts thousands of scientists internationally with a quest to boost the energy efficiency of their lab’s cold storage. Last year, more than 300 laboratories took part in the competition. 

The Freezer Challenge kicked off in 2017.  

According to Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Elemental Machines’ most recent sustainability report, an average lab consumes between five and ten times more energy per square foot than a typical office space. Cold storage tends to be one of the central energy consumers in such environments. A single ultra-cold temperature freezer can use as much energy as a typical household. 

Participants in the challenge can earn points by fully defrosting freezers, cleaning filters, coils and intakes. They can also improve their scores by removing frost from cabinet and door seals, updating inventories and relocating samples to warmer temperatures whenever possible. 

“It can be done! Studies have shown that DNA samples stored between -20°C and -80°C were stable for over 24 months (and beyond). Try it out on a well plate or set of 25 tubes for credit in the Freezer Challenge!” said Constantin Fahom, Elemental Machines Business Development Executive in Europe, in one of the company’s weekly emails to the lab community. The quote was also featured in a press release. 

“The global biotechnology and pharma industry has a carbon footprint larger than the semiconductor industry, the forestry, and paper industry, and equal to nearly half the annual emissions of the UK,” explained Elizabeth McGarry, a spokesperson at Elemental Machines, in a news release. “Sustainable LabOps (laboratory operations) go beyond power consumption, like heating and cooling, because savings not only help shrink a lab’s carbon footprint but could also help bring about the next scientific breakthrough.” 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

The pharma and biotech editor of WTWH Media, Brian is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years of experience covering an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, drug discovery and development and medical devices. Before coming to WTWH, he served as content director focused on connected devices at Informa. In addition, Brian covered the medical device sector for 10 years at UBM. At Qmed, he overhauled the brand’s news coverage and helped to grow the site’s traffic volume dramatically. He had previously held managing editor roles on two of the company’s medical device technology publications. Connect with him on LinkedIn or email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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