Congratulations to UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences for their participation in the 2022 Chill Up Challenge!
Ultra-low temperature freezers (ULTs) preserve millions of precious samples at UBC but are expensive, energy intensive, and require vigilant oversight. In fact, one ULT operating at -80°C uses enough energy to power a single family home! Energy and cost savings, as well as longer freezer lifespans and fewer maintenance requirements, can be achieved by "chilling up" these ULT freezers (adjusting setpoints from -80°C to -70°C), which is exactly what UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences researchers did over the three-week challenge this November!
We're pleased to announce that, thanks to everyone who took part, 50% of the faculty's ULT freezers are now chilled up! This is an excellent improvement, up from 19% pre-challenge. The faculty's chilled up freezers represent an estimated 30,440 kWh in annual electricity savings, or the equivalent annual electricity use of 142 standard, Energy Star-rated chest freezers!
A big congratulations to the Colin Ross Laboratory, the lucky winning group of our 2022 challenge and a $200 cash prize for a team celebration! Excellent work by the Colin Ross Lab, and by all participating groups! Thank you to everyone who participated! A special thank you to Rehana Aziz and the whole Pharm Sci Facilities team for helping to pull off this challenge, and to the BC Hydro Energy Wise Network for supporting this important work.
The Chill Up Challenge was organized by UBC Green Labs and the Pharmaceutical Sciences Facilities team, with support from BC Hydro’s Energy Wise program. Learn how to Chill Up your lab today!