DOE Joint Genome Institute

  • COVID-19
  • About
  • Phones
  • Contacts
  • Our Science
    • DOE Mission Areas
    • Bioenergy Research Centers
    • Science Programs
    • Products
    • Science Highlights
    • Scientists
    Screencap of green algae video for PNAS paper
    Green Algae Reveal One mRNA Encodes Many Proteins
    A team of researchers has found numerous examples of polycistronic expression – in which two or more genes are encoded on a single molecule of mRNA – in two species of green algae.

    Read more

    Advances in Rapidly Engineering Non-model Bacteria
    CRAGE is a technique for chassis (or strain)-independent recombinase-assisted genome engineering, allowing scientists to conduct genome-wide screens and explore biosynthetic pathways. Now, CRAGE is being applied to other synthetic biology problems.

    Read more

    Maize can produce a cocktail of antibiotics with a handful of enzymes. (Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0)
    How Maize Makes An Antibiotic Cocktail
    Zealexins are produced in every corn variety and protect maize by fending off fungal and microbial infections using surprisingly few enzymes.

    More

  • Our Projects
    • Search JGI Projects
    • DOE Metrics/Statistics
    • Approved User Proposals
    • Legacy Projects
    Poplar (Populus trichocarpa and P. deltoides) grow in the Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory (APPL) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Poplar is an important biofuel feedstock, and Populus trichocarpa is the first tree species to have its genome sequenced — a feat accomplished by JGI. (Image courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy)
    Podcast: Xiaohan Yang on A Plantiful Future
    Building off plant genomics collaborations between the JGI and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Xiaohan Yang envisions customizing plants for the benefit of human society.

    More:

    Expansin complex with cell wall in background. (Courtesy of Daniel Cosgrove)
    Synthesizing Microbial Expansins with Unusual Activities
    Expansin proteins from diverse microbes have potential uses in deconstructing lignocellulosic biomass for conversion to renewable biofuels, nanocellulosic fibers, and commodity biochemicals.

    Read more

    High oleic pennycress. (Courtesy of Ratan Chopra)
    Pennycress – A Solution for Global Food Security, Renewable Energy and Ecosystem Benefits
    Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) is under development as a winter annual oilseed bioenergy crop. It could produce up to 3 billion gallons of seed oil annually while reducing soil erosion and fertilizer runoff.

    Read more

  • Data & Tools
    • IMG
    • Genome Portal
    • MycoCosm
    • PhycoCosm
    • Phytozome
    • GOLD
    Artistic interpretation of CheckV assessing virus genome sequences from environmental samples. (Rendered by Zosia Rostomian​, Berkeley Lab)
    An Automated Tool for Assessing Virus Data Quality
    CheckV can be broadly utilized by the research community to gauge virus data quality and will help researchers to follow best practices and guidelines for providing the minimum amount of information for an uncultivated virus genome.

    More

    Unicellular algae in the Chlorella genus, magnified 1300x. (Andrei Savitsky)
    A One-Stop Shop for Analyzing Algal Genomes
    The PhycoCosm data portal is an interactive browser that allows algal scientists and enthusiasts to look deep into more than 100 algal genomes, compare them, and visualize supporting experimental data.

    More

    Artistic interpretation of how microbial genome sequences from the GEM catalog can help fill in gaps of knowledge about the microbes that play key roles in the Earth's microbiomes. (Rendered by Zosia Rostomian​, Berkeley Lab)
    Podcast: A Primer on Genome Mining
    In Natural Prodcast: the basics of genome mining, and how JGI researchers conducted it in IMG/ABC on thousands of metagenome-derived genomes for a Nature Biotechnology paper.

    Read more

  • User Programs
    • Calls for User Proposals
    • Special Initiatives & Programs
    • User Support
    • Submit a Proposal
    Image of Octopus Springs for the CSP annual call
    Letters of Intent are due April 12, 2021 for the annual Community Science Program (CSP) call focused on large-scale genomic science projects that address specific areas of special emphasis and exploit the diversity of JGI capabilities.

    Read more

    SIP engagement webinar
    “SIP technologies at EMSL and JGI” Webinar
    The concerted stable isotope-related tools and resources of the JGI and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) may be requested by applying for the annual “Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science” (FICUS) call.

    Read more

    martin-adams-unsplash
    CSP Functional Genomics Call Ongoing
    The CSP Functional Genomics call helps users translate genomic information into biological function. Proposals submitted by July 31, 2021 will be part of the next review.

    Read more

  • News & Publications
    • News
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • Publications
    • Newsletter
    • Logos and Templates
    • Photos
    Aerial photo of the switchgrass diversity panel late in the 2020 season at the Kellogg Biological Station in Michigan. (Robert Goodwin)
    A Team Effort Toward Targeted Crop Improvements
    A multi-institutional team has produced a high-quality reference sequence of the complex switchgrass genome. Building off this work, researchers at three DOE Bioenergy Research Centers have expanded the network of common gardens and are exploring improvements to switchgrass.

    More

    Artistic interpretation of how microbial genome sequences from the GEM catalog can help fill in gaps of knowledge about the microbes that play key roles in the Earth's microbiomes. (Rendered by Zosia Rostomian​, Berkeley Lab)
    Uncovering Novel Genomes from Earth’s Microbiomes
    A public repository of 52,515 microbial draft genomes generated from environmental samples around the world, expanding the known diversity of bacteria and archaea by 44%, is now available .

    More

    Green millet (Setaria viridis) plant collected in the wild. (Courtesy of the Kellogg lab)
    Shattering Expectations: Novel Seed Dispersal Gene Found in Green Millet
    In Nature Biotechnology, a very high quality reference Setaria viridis genome was sequenced, and for the first time in wild populations, a gene related to seed dispersal was identified.

    More

News & Publications
Home › Blog › JGI’s Klatu Chills at the North American Freezer Challenge

October 25, 2017

JGI’s Klatu Chills at the North American Freezer Challenge

Freezer Preventive Monitoring Program A Model of Berkeley Lab Energy Efficiency Efforts

The JGI Freezer Challenge Team (left to right): Tom Vess, Christine Naca and Don Miller in front of two freezers being monitored by the Klatu system. As part of JGI’s efforts to become more sustainable, Stirling freezers like the one on the left are being phased in because they use less than half of the energy consumed by the older freezer on the right.

The JGI Freezer Challenge Team (left to right): Tom Vess, Christine Naca and Don Miller in front of two freezers being monitored by the Klatu system. As part of JGI’s efforts to become more sustainable, Stirling freezers like the one on the left are being phased in because they use less than half of the energy consumed by the older freezer on the right.

It’s a common scene in popular culture, and it likely plays out in your own home: someone looking for a snack holds the refrigerator door open so long that eventually someone else complains that its cold enough for penguins to migrate from the South Pole. The energy spikes associated with keeping fridges at a constant, food-safe temperature can translate into significant financial costs and increased greenhouse gas emissions from power plants generating electricity to meet demand.

Laboratory freezers face similar energy demands, but unlike household fridges, they have to keep their contents frozen and not just cold. Additionally, they need to store those contents for months or years on end without thawing, and they’re not cleaned out as often, so if one breaks down, the results can be devastating for researchers. In an effort to raise awareness and optimize energy efficiency in freezer management, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) and My Green Lab organized the North American Freezer Challenge, a competition that tasked participants with demonstrating best practices for cold storage management.

The Challenge allowed labs to collect points for efforts such as cleaning out freezers, inventorying samples, and migrating samples from -80ºF to -70ºF freezers. Over 200 labs from 34 organizations entered the Freezer Challenge; JGI was one of five individual labs to receive Honorable Mention distinction. The Freezer Challenge winners were recognized in the October 5, 2017 issue of Nature, and were honored at the I2SL conference held in Boston on October 16, 2017.

Klatu for Monitoring Freezers

The JGI entry was led by Christine Naca, New Technology Implementation Program Manager, Don Miller and Tom Vess of the JGI Instrumentation team. Naca, who is also the head of the JGI’s Safety & Wellness (SWELL) Team and the 2017 Berkeley Lab Director’s Awardee for Exceptional Achievement in Safety, says the idea to participate was brought up by Sustainable Berkeley Lab’s Brie Fulton, and was motivated in large part by JGI’s sustainability initiatives. JGI’s freezer monitoring system (called “Klatu”) is a major investment in both time and money. It took six months to implement, another six months to set up at the JGI on all of the freezers, and requires onsite maintenance, but has demonstrated long-term benefits. The Klatu system was originally implemented at the JGI by a team led by Berkeley Lab Chief Sustainability Officer John Elliott, Erin Claybaugh – then Sustainability Program Manager for Sustainable Berkeley Lab, Don Miller, Tom Vess, Christine Naca, and JGI Operations Deputy Ray Turner.

Image 1: Tracking a freezer's energy consumption using the Klatu system

Tracking a freezer’s energy consumption using the Klatu system

“As part of the JGI’s move to the IGB, we are taking a number of steps to reduce energy consumption which will get us closer to reaching LEED certification and cost-savings. One of the JGI’s contributions towards this goal involves phasing in Stirling freezers that cost more money but use less than half the energy of the freezers we have now,” Naca says. “Freezers are the most energy consuming piece of equipment and it’s been tough convincing researchers that a sample stored in a -80ºF will not degrade or suffer loss of quality if stored in a more energy-efficient -70ºF freezer. The Klatu system can help us demonstrate this.”

For the monitoring system to work, each unit of interest is wired with a mote (a small electronic box not much bigger than a smartphone) and data collecting sensors. The motes wirelessly transmit the collected data to the Klatu software stored in the cloud, and daily reports are emailed to the JGI staff overseeing all of the wired units. JGI Instrumentation Lab Manager Don Miller said there are 76 freezers and deli-style fridges with motes. Logging into the Klatu system, he shows the breadth of information available about each unit, from compressor cycle times, to how long a freezer door has been open, and even the ambient temperature outside of the unit.

Image 2: Screenshot of the data the Klatu system collects

Screenshot of the data the Klatu system collects

Every morning, he gets an emailed report summarizing the status of all the units; designated personnel in lab group who serve as first responders to freezer emergencies also receive daily emails about the specific units assigned to their areas.

“If any of the freezers alarm, they get emails and text messages, same as I do,” he says. “If a freezer fails, we have designated emergency backup freezers. But the Klatu system allows us to focus on preventing freezer failures rather than just responding after the freezer has failed.”

An Example of Lab Sustainability Efforts

Image 3: Sample of a daily freezer status email

Sample of a daily freezer status email

For the Freezer Challenge, points were awarded in categories such as the number of freezers on site, number of samples transitioned to a lower temperature freezer, and number of samples removed completely. As many of the data points could be tracked by Klatu, Sustainable Berkeley Lab reached out to see if JGI was interested in participating.

Along with the Klatu data collected by Miller and Vess, Naca says the JGI’s success in the Freezer Challenge highlights the efforts of dozens of JGI staff in multiple teams who worked on reducing the number of samples stored at various temperatures, discarding old or abandoned project samples and making more efficient use of existing freezer storage space. The group effort involved Sample Management led by Yuko Yoshinaga, Sequencing Technologies led by Chris Daum, and Supply Chain Manager Natasha Brown in the Project Management Office as part of the JGI’s Continuous Improvement Team (CIT). Samples stored by individual research labs at the JGI were not factored into the competition.

Naca says JGI’s participation in the competition was a good way to demonstrate the Lab’s efforts to find ways to become more sustainable, and Klatu has paid off in more ways than one. After seeing it in action, the company that responds to JGI’s service calls has also decided to implement the Klatu system. “They can see the value,” she said. By targeting maintenance efforts, JGI’s service vendor has been able to significantly reduce the number of freezers that are showing signs of failure, like having a compressor run too often. “Stressed out” freezers are more likely to fail and typically use more energy than a healthy freezer.

This award not only recognizes the achievements by the JGI team to efficiently manage their samples and energy, but also provides a model for the rest of the Lab, says Chief Sustainability Officer Elliott. “JGI is making all the right moves to strategically reduce their energy use while also lowering the chances that samples could be lost through freezer failure. Cold storage is the biggest equipment energy use at JGI. And plug-in equipment is expected to account for more than 60 percent of total energy use after JGI moves into its new, more energy efficient building on the main site.  “JGI’s stewardship of its cold storage units using the Klatu system is inspiring and I think they have what it takes to win the Challenge next year.”

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Blog

More topics:

  • COVID-19 Status
  • News
  • Science Highlights
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Webinars
  • CSP Plans
  • Featured Profiles

Related Content:

Statement on the Use of Genomics Data

Aerial photo of the IGB

Webinar: MycoCosm Tutorial

MycoCosm webinar screencap

Webinar: PhycoCosm Tutorial

PhycoCosm webinar screencap

Engagement Webinar: Utilizing long-read sequencing for metagenomics and DNA modification detection

screencap long reads webinar_ Metagenome Program

Engagement Webinar: Accessing NEON’s Environmental Sample Archives, Applying JGI & EMSL Omics Tools

NEON webinar screencap

Engagement Webinar: How to Apply for Resources at Multiple DOE User Facilities

  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • User Meeting
  • MGM Workshops
  • Internal
  • Disclaimer
  • Credits
  • Emergency Info
  • Accessibility / Section 508 Statement
  • RSS feed
  • Flickr
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Biosciences Area
A project of the US Department of Energy, Office of Science

JGI is a DOE Office of Science User Facility managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

© 1997-2021 The Regents of the University of California