Welcome to Freezer Challenge 2011! Are You Cool Enough?

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1 Welcome to Freezer Challenge 2011! Are You Cool Enough? This friendly competition will enable all participants to increase sample access and security, save energy, reduce room cooling, recover lost samples, and develop key freezer maintenance skills. The competition will continue from May 3, 2011 June 3, Participants at both the university and individual level will be honored for their accomplishments with a variety of special awards. General incentives include raffles for pizza and gift cards to take your whole lab out. To learn more, please visit the Store Smart page at: LABORATORY REGISTRATION To participate in this campaign, please take the preliminary step of registering with the questionnaire link provided below. Your lab ID or team name will be your identification for the subsequent questionnaires to track your involvement with each campaign. Register at: GOOD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Freezer Clean Out Freezer clean out will be awarded points according to each cubic foot of space saved by reorganizing, discarding unneeded samples, and proper inventory and labeling. Practices for cleaning a freezer are explained in detail on the following pages. Proper maintenance also includes defrosting to eliminate excess frost build up and regularly cleaning the freezer s coil of lint. These practices extend the life of your freezer and enhance performance. Record your participation at TEMPERATURE TUNING Freezer Chill Up An ultra low freezer set to -60 C may use HALF the electricity of one set to -86 C. Chill Up encourages users to raise their freezer set-point by 10 C (or more) for at least 6 months. Participants need to identify the sample types (i.e. tissues, molecules, cultures, reagents, etc.) being stored. For bonus points please identify the time frame for each sample type stored at these temperatures. There is very little scientific data that shows the appropriate temperature for various sample types and this response will establish the range of credible sample storage methods. DNA at -20 C Many researchers around the country store their DNA samples at -20 C rather than keep them in ultralow temperature freezers. Anecdotal references have shown no complications with DNA at a higher temperature. This ties in to the lack of data surrounding the appropriate temperature for sample types. It

2 is known however, that a standard freezer uses one fifth of the energy of an ultra-low temperature freezer. Record your participation for temperature tuning at FREEZER RETIREMENT AND UPGRADES Freezer retirement is the ultimate challenge as it requires a researcher to take their freezer completely off the power grid. Ultra-low temperature freezers use the greatest amount of energy and therefore render the most points. We also welcome retirement of -40, -30, -20, and multiple glass door refrigerators. Retirement includes a 1 year pledge not replace your freezer. Tip: Assess the material in your ultra-low temperature freezer. Often times, samples do not require - 80 C and can be moved to higher temperature. For example, if you have an ultra-low full of DNA, consider switching to dry storage or a -20 C freezer instead. Equipment upgrade is the replacement of an old unit with a certified energy efficient one. The freezer must be validated with kw of Amp measurements, data from Labs21 Wiki, Energy Star, or the manufacturer. Record your participation at CUTTING EDGE TECHNIQUES Sharing Freezer Sharing accrues points when additional PI s store samples in the same freezer and thus avoids purchasing a freezer. Points will be received for every additional researcher that shares the freezer. Also, if sharing a freezer allows for the retirement of another freezer, points for both actions will be combined. Record your participation at Inventory Software Sample management software can definitively organize your current and archived samples. Assist with retro-studies, identify expired samples, and enable organization by research objective rather than researcher. You will gain points if you enter your samples on a searchable database. Record your participation at Room Temperature Sample Storage (RTSS) A large portion of the RTSS costs are subsidized for new users. The researcher s costs will be roughly $0.10/sample, rather than the normal $0.40/sample. Also, student labor to transfer samples to dry storage will be subsidized down to $1.50/hr for the researcher, assuming an average pay of $8.50/hr. To sweeten the deal a little bit more, participants will also be eligible for the gift card and pizza raffles in addition to the subsidies. To document your freezer cleanout, inventory or conversion to dry storage, please record your progress here,

3 Ultra-Low Temperature Freezer Cleanout Practices To define a cleaned out freezer, please follow these guidelines and document your work. You will be generously rewarded by the UC Davis Freezer Challenge, plus you will sleep well knowing you are doing the right thing. The goal is well-organized samples according to: a) experimental objective (e.g. molecule, biochemical pathway, organism) b) good record keeping (logbook, spreadsheet, sample management software; c) appropriate temperature (e.g. DNA samples in an ultra-low temperature freezer can be moved to a -20 C freezer); d) consolidated and efficient use of space (e.g. little headspace above containers, boxes mostly full) Safety O Send an to EH&S so they know you are throwing out samples, by contacting Sean Barry at sjbarry@ucdavis.edu. If they have any concerns, they will assist your cleanout. O You are the expert on your samples and responsible for proper disposal. You must determine whether the samples are hazardous and how they will be disposed. Please see the disposal guidelines and SafetyNet reminders. Documentation If you are participating in Freezer Challenge and wish to receive incentives for your work, please follow these guidelines. O Write down or photograph the initial state of the freezer with open doors (Gnarliest Photo award?) a. Sample organization method (researcher, molecule or tissue, research objective) b. Empty or head space on each shelf c. Age of samples (candidate for Rip Van Winkle award?) O Remove excess frost from freezer door and shelves, vacuum coils or lint filter. O Inventory all sample boxes, racks or reagent kits via visual check or log. A logged inventory is preferable If a visual check is implemented, the lab manager or researcher must know what the sample contains and why it is important. Ask the PI when they are having a good day. See Priority Guidelines, below. O Remove unwanted samples and quantify recovered volume: d. Measure dimensions of a box or tub to place your discarded samples. e. Count the number of times the bin is filled and write that down. f. Record your achievements in this survey HYPERLINK O Consolidate samples and reagents and eliminate voids.

4 Stack boxes, well-plates neatly with labels facing forward if possible Researcher contacted so he/she can advise on proper disposal or archival Examples of sample valuation; Toss anything less than a 3 What long term value to your research group are these samples? Sample Characteristics Notes Unlabeled 0 Raw sample, analysis date unknown 1 Researcher gone, sample unknown 1 Results published, no further study likely 1 Researcher gone, more than 3 years 1 Just-in-case samples, saved during a process as backup and not needed 2 Short term test 2 Researcher gone, valuable DNA sample Move to -20 C 2 Sample redundant 2 Analysis complete, store until published 3 Researcher gone, still in contact, no records, documentation may be located Contact researcher, Expire 6 mos 3 Researcher gone, unprocessed sample 3 Most samples converted to RTSS 4 Raw sample, analysis date likely 4 Analysis partial and pending 5 Researcher gone, valuable and delicate samples with documentation 6 Valuable series of samples, potential for retro study 6 Results published, likely further study 7 Irreplaceable and moderately precious 8 Irreplaceable and extremely precious for ecological work Irreplaceable and extremely precious for disease prevention 9 10

Space Consolidation Flow Chart/ Decisions/ Opportunities Do you have a lot of empty space in some shelves?

into specially made freezer racks (The Store Smart program has freezer racks available FOR FREE) Do the containers stack to the top of the shelf?

Contacting ESS for assistance to reduce the volume of your samples Get the necessary equipment to decrease the size (i.e. freeze dryer) Can you share space with a collaborator on your floor?

5 Space Consolidation Flow Chart/ Decisions/ Opportunities Do you have a lot of empty space in some shelves? Consolidating partially filled boxes Sharing your freezer with another researcher Do the containers fit snugly together? If no, consider: Place samples, boxes, etc. into specially made freezer racks (The Store Smart program has freezer racks available FOR FREE) Do the containers stack to the top of the shelf? If no, consider: Finding ways to make more efficient use, including square bottles, stacking, racks, etc. Are the containers larger than the final processed sample? Contacting ESS for assistance to reduce the volume of your samples Get the necessary equipment to decrease the size (i.e. freeze dryer) Can you share space with a collaborator on your floor? Avoid the purchase of a freezer by allowing a colleague to store samples in your freezer. Are your samples organized only by researcher? Saving according to experiment, molecule or process, and at the correct temperature. Do your samples have expiration dates? If yes, consider Loading your samples onto software for good access and reminders for sample expiration Turn This: Into This:

Brenda Petrella, PhD. Biosafety Officer Lab Sustainability Manager Dartmouth College. Safety and Sustainability ACS NERM Meet in the Freezer

Brenda Petrella, PhD. Biosafety Officer Lab Sustainability Manager Dartmouth College. Safety and Sustainability ACS NERM Meet in the Freezer Brenda Petrella, PhD Biosafety Officer Lab Sustainability Manager Dartmouth College Safety and Sustainability Meet in the Freezer ACS NERM 2015 Dartmouth Green Labs Outline Big Science. The Case for Green