Energy efficiency
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Energy efficiency in cleanrooms
A holistic approach to designing energy efficiency into the requirements of a cleanroom can result in a working environment that meets Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
requirements, while complementing the wider energy management strategy of the site or organisation
Specialist cleanroom design and construction provider BES’ HVAC expert John Rush discusses the need for a more energy efficient approach to cleanroom design and ways in which this can be achieved
I
t’s hardly surprising that energy efficiency is not a core priority for the senior technicians and pharmaceutical
professionals involved in determining the design parameters for new cleanrooms. Their key concerns are with the facilty’s functionality and performance. And rightly so. However, the aims of environmental efficiency and technical compliance are not mutually exclusive. A holistic approach to designing energy efficiency into the requirements of a cleanroom can result in a working environment that meets Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements, while complementing the wider energy management strategy of the site or organisation.
26 September 2018 Over-specification issues
Depending on the specific class or application of the cleanroom, up to 60% of its energy consumption is usually accounted for by its HVAC system. The need to maintain a controlled environment through heating, cooling, humidity control, air changes and pressure regimes is unavoidable. However, innovative design approaches and bespoke specification can reduce energy demand of HVAC systems by as much as 50% by avoiding common assumptions and over-specification. Generic commercial thinking often pervades specification of the HVAC system with a tendency to include future-proofing in the design criteria. This can have a
HVAC expert from BES John Rush
significant and unnecessary impact on the facility’s energy consumption, far beyond the negligible additional energy loads involved in future-proofing a centrally air conditioned office of a similar size, where air flows are likely to be around five times less. Consequently, part of the cleanroom specialist’s remit is to fully interrogate the brief and understand the immediate needs of the organisation when preparing the user requirement brief (URB). The impulse to over-specify is often underpinned by the lack of clarity in current guidance. Air change requirements are dictated by the cleanroom grade or classification but the guidance does not stipulate how they should be achieved. Advances in
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