Enter rich text here. This year’s International Freezer Challenge brought together a record number of laboratories from around the world, amplifying the collective impact of sustainable cold storage practices. A total of 3,724 laboratories from 36 countries participated in this year’s challenge, representing a 23% increase in lab involvement compared to 2024.

Organized by My Green Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), the Freezer Challenge continues to unite the scientific community around a shared goal: reducing the environmental impact of research through smarter, more sustainable cold storage practices.

This year’s collective efforts translated into 31.6 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy saved, avoiding approximately 21,214 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the same as removing 5,000 gas-powered cars from the road for one year. Since 2017, the Freezer Challenge has saved an impressive 108.1 million kWh of energy, reinforcing its impact as a catalyst for sustainable change in labs worldwide. With this year’s expanded reach, the 2025 Freezer Challenge showcased momentum, innovation, and the power of collective action.

“The continued growth of the Freezer Challenge reflects the scientific community’s deepening commitment to sustainability,” said James Connelly, My Green Lab’s CEO. “Each participating lab, whether large or small, contributes to something much larger, creating a culture of sustainability in science that’s growing stronger every year.”

A record 286 research organizations joined the program, supported by 314 organization admins and 1,934 lab leads who championed sustainability within their institutions. Labs reported on more than 37,000 cold storage units, from ultra-low temperature freezers to refrigerators, each one a critical contributor to the overall impact.

Behind the scenes, the Freezer Challenge underwent a major transformation with the launch of a new software platform. Built to be more user-friendly and scalable, the tool offers improved functionality and will support the program’s evolution in the years ahead. This year also introduced a new feature: for the first time, labs and organizations were able to compare their performance against peers by their Challenge Score and estimated energy savings, adding a layer of transparency and friendly competition to the experience.

With more labs and organizations engaged than ever before, this year’s Freezer Challenge reflects a growing global movement to make scientific research more sustainable. And as participation continues to rise, so too does the potential for lasting, large-scale impact. If you’d like to hear when registration opens for the 2026 Freezer Challenge, please complete the interest form on the landing page of the Freezer Challenge platform.

2025 Freezer Challenge winners

Each participating lab contributed to the collective success of this year’s Freezer Challenge, and we’re thrilled to spotlight those whose efforts stood out. This year’s Top Lab and Top Organization winners were determined based on the highest Challenge Score for each Award Category. Winners of Honorable Mentions were selected either by standout energy savings estimates or a combination of that and impressive Challenge Score. Top Organization Winners will be recognized at the I2SL Annual Conference, taking place October 19–22 in Dallas, Texas. Top Lab Winners will be celebrated during a virtual awards ceremony that will take place in early October.

Congratulations to the winners and to all who took part in making this year’s Freezer Challenge a success! For those interested, final Challenge Scores and energy savings estimates can be viewed on the Leaderboards within the Freezer Challenge platform (you must log in again to view).

List of our 2025 winners

Note: Winning Streak Awards are given to the previous year’s Top Organizations and Labs who would have won a second year in a row for 2025. 

Biotech/pharmaceutical sector winners

• Top Organization Award: AstraZeneca – 4762 kWh/day saved (Global Participation)
• Winning Streak Award: Amgen Inc, 5172 kWh/day saved (Global Participation)
• Large Lab Award​: Discovery Sciences Cambridge Lab, Novartis Pharmaceuticals – 431 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Medium Lab Award: Shanghai/LPS & SM Lab, Labcorp – 223 kWh/day saved (China)
• Small Lab Award: ARI Process Development Lab, Amgen Inc. – 73 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Small Lab Winning Streak Award: Regional HBS Centre Gothenburg Lab, AstraZeneca – 186 kWh/day saved (Sweden)
• Biorepository Award: Specimen Management Lab Indianapolis, Labcorp – 4913 kWh/day saved (United States)

Academic sector winners

• Top Organization Award: Johns Hopkins University – 1560 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Large Lab Award​: Devonshire Lab, Newcastle University – 170 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)
• Large Lab Winning Streak Award: Jaffee Lab, Johns Hopkins University – 171 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Medium Lab Award: Tobian – Quinn Lab, Johns Hopkins University – 168 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Small Lab Award: Subramaniam Lab, University of Alabama Birmingham – 1267 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Biorepository Award: HUVH Biobank, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute – 112 kWh/day saved (Spain)

Hospital/clinical/other winners

• Top Organization Award: Mars – 91 kWh/day saved (Global Participation)
• Winning Streak Award: Boston Children’s Hospital – 673 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Large Lab Award​: Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Program Lab, RCPAQAP – 122 kWh/day saved (Australia)
• Medium Lab Award: Pishesha Lab, Boston Children’s Hospital – 150 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Small Lab Award: CRB/CIC1403 Lab, CHU de Lille – 113 kWh/day saved (France)
• Biorepository Award: Edinburgh Lab, IQVIA – 2192 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)

Government sector winners

• Top Organization Award:​ Cefas – 189 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)
• Large Lab Award​: NEORSD Analytical Services Lab, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District – 20 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Medium Lab Award: R-Chem Lab, Cefas – 1 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)
• Small Lab Award: Ecora Lab, Cefas – 31 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)
• Biorepository Award: Statewide Biobank, New South Wales Health Pathology – 57 kWh/day saved (Australia)

Honorable Mentions

Organizations (all industries):

• The Institute of Cancer Research – 1513 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)
• Imperial College London – 1445 kWh/day saved (United Kingdom)
• University of Georgia – 503 kWh/day saved (United States)
• National Institutes of Health – 2875 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Labcorp – 18,138 kWh/day saved (Global Participation)
• IQVIA – 6336 kWh/day saved (Global Participation)
• Sanofi – 4580 kWh/day saved (Global Participation)

Labs (all industries):

• HZG 3 Lab, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut – 82 kWh/day saved (Germany)
• Biobank, Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber – 63 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Teaching Lab, ITQB Nova – 192 kWh/day saved (Portugal)
• Dobos Lab, Colorado State University – 112 kWh/day saved (United States)
• Devens Upstream Bio-Process Development Lab, Bristol-Myers Squibb – 326 kWh/day saved (United States)
• IDD – Cell & Sample Technologies Lab, Sanofi – 267 kWh/day saved (Germany)
• Geneva Lab, Labcorp – 5398 kWh/day saved (Switzerland)
• Genseq Lab, Genseq – 83 kWh/day saved (Ireland)

Lab winner, participant, and honorable mention certificates

As of Thursday July 31, winners of Top Lab Awards and all Lab Participants in the Freezer Challenge can download certificates from the Freezer Challenge platform by logging back in. If you are a Lab Lead, you will see your download certificate button at the top of your Scoresheet. If you are an Org Admin, you can download individual Lab Certificates from the Scoresheet view or by going to “My Labs”, clicking the Lab Name you wish to view, and then switching from the General to Scoresheet option. Under Scoresheet, you’ll see the Download Certificate button.

2025 is the first year we are providing certificates to all Participating Labs – we hope you enjoy them and share them! If anything seems incorrect about your certificate, please let us know. We can help Winning Labs make slight lab name modifications to their certificates if needed, but due to the large number of participating labs this year, we will not be able to make such changes to the Participant Certificates. You may make your own edits to Lab Name using a PDF-modifying software tool.

For those labs earning Winning Streak Lab Awards or Honorable Mentions, or Organizations earning Honorable Mentions, you will all receive your certificates via email from the Freezer Challenge team. Look out for a message from freezerchallenge@mygreenlab.org.