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Cleanrooms
RESOURCES: Benchmarking • Best Practice Summaries • Case StudiesBibliography • Demonstrations • Programming Guide
A Cleanroom is defined by ISO14644-1 as "a room in which the concentration of airborne particles is controlled, and which is constructed and used in a manner to minimize the introduction, generation, and retention of particles inside the room and in which other relevant parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, and pressure, are controlled as necessary." The design of cleanroom HVAC systems is a specialty area requiring the unique understanding of cleanliness guidelines, airflow, room pressurization, code requirements, specialty equipment, precise control, and many more details.
Owners and managers of sites using cleanrooms can dramatically reduce their operating costs, thereby increasing their profits, through implementation of energy- and resource-efficiency policies. Energy efficiency is the practice of using less energy to deliver the same goods and services without increasing production time or diminishing product quality. Energy efficiency is wise business practice in any industry, but it can be an especially fruitful venture in cleanrooms. Cleanrooms are inherently energy- and resource-intensive facilities.
Key Areas of Research:
1. Characterize baseline energy use and savings potentials
- Develop scenarios of energy savings potential in California high-tech industries
2. Benchmark cleanrooms and document best practices
- Perform in-depth energy benchmarking on actual facilities
- Identify and promulgate best practices
3. Improve efficiency of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning in cleanrooms
- Develop protocols for demand controlled filtration and evaluate savings
- Develop a standard test procedure for fan-filter units
- Investigate Minienvironments and evaluate energy performance
4. Showcase best practices at LBNL's own facilities
- LBNL's in-house energy managers have worked with LBNL researchers for several decades on improving energy efficiency in our own high-tech facilities
- Implement best practices in LBNL's Molecular Foundry, a $65-million, 6-story building housing labs, a cleanroom, and a data center - received LEED Gold Rating