This was the first year SGDP entered the Freezer Challenge, so we were very pleased to win in our category for Medium Labs. This year we really focused on cold storage and freezer management as part of our LEAF submission and in conjunction with the sustainable research team at King's. This therefore seemed like the perfect time to enter the Freezer Challenge. We learnt a lot from the experience and plan to continue looking at new and innovative ways to improve sustainability across our labs.
Chris Parsons, Senior Technician (Operations)
04 August 2026
King's laboratory wins for most energy savings in international challenge
The University won awards in two categories whilst coming fourth overall in the International Freezer Challenge
The full results of the International Freezer Challenge have been released, with the Medium Lab award being won by the Social, Genetic and Development Psychiatry (SGDP) team in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.
This was awarded for their achievement of reducing energy consumption by around 121 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day – roughly the same amount as running 161 washing machine cycles.
Chris Parsons, Senior Technician (Operations) in the team, said:
Led by the Cold Storage Team of Dr Lucy Menage and Shweta Chatterjee, King’s came fourth overall out of 268 institutions taking part across the globe.
Dr Marcelo Salierno, Sustainability Innovation Lead (Research), said:
These awards further reinforce King's position as a global leader in sustainable research, and demonstrate what can be achieved through collective commitment and collaboration. We look forward to building on this success as we continue to make our research activities more sustainable, as part of delivering King’s Sustainability Strategy.
Dr Marcelo Salierno, Sustainability Innovation Lead (Research)
The University was also given an honourable mention for ‘vast energy savings and large number of labs engaged’, demonstrating the depth and breadth of significant action to reduce emissions from cold storage at King’s.
The total amount of energy saved across all participating labs was 2,587 kWh/day – around the same as powering an average home for a year.
Dr Lucy Menage, Sustainable Cold Storage Analyst, said:
We’re so impressed and proud of the community coming together to achieve such a great result. It just goes to show how much impact we can make through lots of individual actions adding up. Well done to everyone who took part, coming fourth is an amazing achievement and it’s thanks to you all that we got here.
Dr Lucy Menage, Sustainable Cold Storage Analyst
Run by My Green Lab, the International Freezer Challenge sees academic and industry labs come together to find innovative ways to reduce emissions from energy-hungry cold storage.
Freezers, including Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) units, which require significant quantities of energy to run, are used to store samples and reagents as part of our research.
At King’s, labs are encouraged to take part in the challenge to reduce the amount of energy they use as part of our work reducing the impact of our research environments.
The Sustainable Research team also runs projects mapping our use of ULT freezers, swapping to low-energy alternatives, and offering a 2-for-1 swapping scheme.
Improving the sustainability of our labs contributes to King's strategic priority to deliver thriving campuses for our community.
Find out more about our work to reduce emissions from our research environments, including cold storage.