Cold Storage

Cold storage is found in abundance in lab spaces and added up consumes large amounts of energy. By creating good practices around your cold storage you can ensure your freezers are used efficiently. These actions include regular cleaning and maintenance, accessible inventories and optimal usage protocols.

Especially Ultra Low Temperature (ULT) freezers, also known as -80 freezers, consume a lot of energy. A single -80 freezer can consume as much energy as 2 average dutch households. With simple and free actions, you can save both money and CO2 emissions. For example, switching your ULT freezer to -70 degrees can save nearly 30% on energy consumption per freezer. Besides, ULT freezers have removable filters at the bottom, that should be regularly cleaned from dust, as a clogged filter can significantly increase the energy consumption of a freezer, with reports ranging from ~4% to numbers reaching up to 50% more energy consumption when combined with other poor freezer maintenance, such as incorrect freezer spacing or door seal obstruction.

Background information

Best Practices

Publications on this topic

Page developed by

Joep Sprangers

Green Labs NL

Sustainability Coordinator
at UMC Utrecht

Aram de Haas

Green Labs NL

Sustainability Coordinator
at Amsterdam UMC

Thomas Freese

Green Labs NL

Sustainability Coordinator
at University of Groningen