How to Determine Your Cleanroom Design Budget

How to Determine Your Cleanroom Design Budget

Budget: the part of any major project that no one wants to talk about or deal with. Cleanroom design is no exception. Given the very specific and specialized nature of cleanroom design and the unique requirements of each type of cleanroom, it can be difficult to know at the outset of your cleanroom design project what your budget should be. Here are a few things to consider when determining your cleanroom design budget.

 

Type of construction

First of all, are there different types of construction? Yes, when it comes to cleanrooms, you can choose either traditional or modular cleanroom construction. (Read more on traditional vs. modular cleanroom construction here.) Depending on your cleanroom size and application, modular construction may be the more economical choice. If you go the route of traditional construction, you’ll need to include more room in the budget for that.

 

Wall type

For modular cleanrooms, there are a few different wall options, which come at different price points. Softwall cleanrooms are going to have a lower cost than Hardwall or Rigidwall cleanrooms, in most cases. They are a more curtain-like material as opposed to a more traditional wall, which is beneficial for impermanent, small, or lower-classification cleanrooms. However, if your cleanroom must meet a very stringent ISO classification, Hardwall or Rigidwall design may be necessary.

 

Equipment and special features

It comes as no surprise that special equipment and features cost money. If your cleanroom application requires a fume hood, hazardous materials storage cabinetry, a talk-thru panel, a pass-thru chamber, an airlock, an air shower, or any other feature that you wouldn’t find in a normal room, you’ll need to account for that additional cost in your budget.

 

Required classification

As a general rule, the higher the cleanroom class, the higher cost to build and maintain. A biotechnology cleanroom required to meet ISO Class 5 (Fed Std 209E Class 100) standards is going to cost more in terms of materials and equipment, to build and maintain than an ISO Class 8 (Fed Std 209E Class 100,000) storage cleanroom. The higher the classification, the more special features, like those mentioned previously, that the cleanroom will need, the more gowning and personal protective equipment that will be necessary for employees, and the more energy and filters that will be necessary to remove contaminants.

 

No matter your needs and budget, Angstrom Technology can design a cleanroom that works for your application. Get in touch today.

Modular vs Traditional Construction for Cleanrooms

Modular vs Traditional Construction for Cleanrooms

When it comes to designing a new cleanroom, the biggest, and possibly first decision you’ll have to make is whether your cleanroom will be modular or traditionally constructed. There are benefits and limitations to each of these options, and it can be difficult to determine the right choice for your cleanroom application. Here’s our take on modular cleanrooms vs traditional construction.

 

Flexibility

For applications requiring flexibility, modular construction is your best bet. Traditional construction can’t be packed up and moved to another location. Nor is it as easy to expand as modular construction where adjustments are minor, such as detaching a few panels and adding more to them. Instead, you have to totally renovate, knocking out walls, etc. Depending on your cleanroom use and classification, you could have a super-flexible Softwall cleanroom, which has impermanent curtain-like walls or a Rigidwall or Hardwall cleanroom, with thicker, more substantial wall panels.

While it might seem like traditional construction is more impervious and more permanent that modular construction, Hardwall and Rigidwall cleanrooms are just as impermeable to contaminants as traditional walls, ceilings, and floors.

 

Cost

Depending on the size, budget, classification, and application of your cleanroom, modular construction may be less expensive than traditional construction. This is especially true of smaller cleanrooms or those that are impermanent. For applications like clean storage, which may require only a small space and adhere to the least stringent cleanroom classifications, a Softwall cleanroom may be the best option, as it typically falls at a lower price point than construction.

 

Installation

While traditional construction can take months from start to finish, modular construction is a much simpler process, as all the components are already manufactured. Instead of having to build walls from raw materials, with modular cleanrooms, the components simply need to be assembled to your specifications. Modular construction can take as little as a few days or weeks to complete, which is crucial to getting your operations up and running as soon as possible.

Additionally, while you’ll always need to hire pros for traditional construction, a modular cleanroom can often be assembled in-plant by your own staff, with the instructions provided by the manufacturer. The manufacturer may even offer installation services at a slight additional cost or as part of a modular cleanroom design package.

 

If you’re designing a cleanroom, get in touch with Angstrom Technology to see how our modular cleanroom designs are the right option for your cleanroom.

 

Why You Need a Cleanroom Design Company, Not Just a Contractor

Why You Need a Cleanroom Design Company, Not Just a Contractor

When beginning the cleanroom design process, it may seem like the simplest, easiest, most inexpensive route is to design the cleanroom yourself, then hire your general contractor to build it. After all, you’ve worked with your contractor before and trust them. But in reality, cleanrooms are complex, complicated, and delicate environments that require experience and specialized knowledge to design and build—knowledge and experience that cleanroom design companies have that contractors may not.

Cleanrooms have special design features

Cleanrooms are not regular rooms and have special design concerns. They need to be optimized for laminar air flow to control contamination, they need to be made of materials that are low particulate emitters, and they often have special features like air showers and pass thru chambers that must be specially designed to reduce the amount of contamination that enters a cleanroom. A poorly designed or integrated pass-thru chamber or other design feature will defeat your efforts to control your cleanroom environment and increase your energy cost and consumption, which is why you should leave those features to a specialist.

Cleanrooms require special equipment

Not only do cleanrooms have specialized features, they also require special equipment that must be seamlessly integrated with HVAC, filters, and other systems. Your general contractor might not have knowledge of fume hoods, hazardous material storage, or cleanroom HEPA or ULPA filtration systems, which, if those systems are not installed and integrated properly, could result in contamination or hazardous conditions in your cleanroom

Traditional construction isn’t always the best option

If you hire a contractor to build a room or suite of rooms for you, they’re going to build those rooms. But sometimes, you don’t need a room in the traditional sense—four permanent walls. With cleanrooms particularly, your company’s needs can change as you add or remove equipment, change your processes, or expand your operations.

Modular construction allows you to change your cleanroom when need be. Additionally, certain types of cleanrooms, like storage cleanrooms, may not require the space, control, or rigidity of a traditionally constructed cleanroom, and a softwall cleanroom may suffice. Modular construction can also be more cost-effective than traditional construction because it depreciates at a quicker rate.

We’re cleanroom design experts who design and build custom cleanrooms, not just general contractors. Angstrom Technology can design the perfect cleanroom for your application. Contact us today.

 

Everything You Need to Know About Cleanroom Design

Everything You Need to Know About Cleanroom Design

There are so many things to consider when designing a cleanroom, from the necessary classification to the equipment to the budget to the application, even down to the material of the walls and the furniture inside the cleanroom. Here are our best resources with everything you need to know about cleanroom design to make your cleanroom project a success.

Most Common Cleanroom Design Problems

Don’t get tripped up before you even begin! It’s not enough to just design a cleanroom that meets your ISO standard, it needs to be efficient in terms of your processes. Most cleanroom issues are the result of poor planning and design, and that can easily be avoided. Read more about the most common cleanroom design problems here.

New Trends in Cleanroom Design

If you’re designing a new cleanroom, you want it to be up-to-date and cutting-edge, especially when cleanrooms are such a significant, long-term investment. This post breaks down the biggest emerging trends in cleanroom design, like sustainability, and how you can apply that to your own cleanroom design project. Read more about the new trends in cleanroom design here.

What to Think About When Choosing Cleanroom Furniture

Furniture is probably low on your list of design concerns, but it’s a crucial consideration to achieve an efficient, well-designed cleanroom. This post will help you ask the right questions to determine what you’ll need for your cleanroom, based on the specific application, processes, tasks, materials, and other things that will be happening or used within the cleanroom walls. Read more about what to consider when choosing cleanroom furniture here.

How to Decide on the Right Wall Material for Your Cleanroom

There’s more to cleanroom walls than just how many there are. There are several different types of walls that your cleanroom can have, all of which have different characteristics that suit differing applications. This post can help you determine, based on factors like cost, flexibility, cleaning, and durability, the right type of wall material for your cleanroom application. Read more on how to select the right cleanroom wall material here.

Design Options to Reduce Your Cleanroom Budget

While a cleanroom may be necessary for your application, oftentimes, you have little money to work with when designing a new cleanroom, and you need it to go a long way to meet your required cleanroom classification. This post has several suggestions on how to cut down on the expense of designing a cleanroom, from cost-efficient lighting choices to design features like pass-thru chambers that can help keep contamination down and reduce energy costs. Read more on how to design a cleanroom on a tight budget here.

Angstrom Technology has years of experience in designing efficient, effective cleanrooms for a variety of industries and applications. If you’re designing a cleanroom, get in touch with the experts at Angstrom Technology.

 

Designing Your Food Microbiology Cleanroom

Designing Your Food Microbiology Cleanroom

Food microbiology labs are a specific type of cleanroom that have a variety of special considerations due to the sensitive nature of the work and its importance. Not only do they need dedicated laboratory space for testing, but the controlled environment of a cleanroom is also critical. Here are some things to consider when designing a cleanroom for food microbiology applications.

Location

Food microbiology cleanrooms should be located conveniently to the production area from which samples are being tested; however, it should be away from main transportation arteries, noisy areas, boilers, and other heavy equipment.

Setup

Depending on your company’s production needs or your specific lab’s application, your food microbiology cleanroom will likely include a chemical laboratory, bacteria laboratory, and office spaces. These areas will likely require multiple rooms. The bacteria lab will probably require a sterile room, examination and operation rooms, and media production studios. Biological testing should always and necessarily be separated from other cleanroom operations. The chemical lab may require a chemical analysis room as well as an instrument room. The offices will need to be accessible to lab personnel as well as other employees, and will likely require a different level of access and control than the rest of the cleanroom space, meaning separation from other cleanroom areas.

ISO Classification

Generally speaking, food manufacturing and food microbiology cleanrooms must meet ISO Class 5 or 6 (Fed-Std 209E Class 100 or 1,000). This means that recommended air changes per hour are between 150 and 600, with 25 to 70 percent ceiling coverage. (For more information on the maximum number of particles in air allowed per cubic meter of each particle size, check out our guide to cleanroom classifications & standards.)

Maintaining a controlled environment is critical for a food microbiology cleanroom. If you want a cleanroom that’s designed and built right, call Angstrom TechnologY.

Most Common Cleanroom Design Problems

Most Common Cleanroom Design Problems

Cleanrooms present a lot of unique challenges in terms of design because they have very specific requirements they have to meet. If you’re meeting your desired ISO standard, you might feel like your design is good enough, but the truth is that there are a lot of common issues that companies face when designing cleanrooms. Here are some of the most common cleanroom design problems we see:

Inefficient placement

One of the biggest issues with cleanroom design is inefficiency. If your design doesn’t support your processes, it’s going to cause problems. Consider the various tasks and processes that go on in your cleanroom. Is someone always getting in someone else’s way because of where there workstations or supplies are located? Are there too many processes sharing one sink, causing a bottleneck? Are there drawers or cabinets that you can’t fully open because they’re too close to a wall or door? All of those problems can cause major inefficiency and can be avoided with good design.

Maze-like walkways

The whole point of a maze is inefficiency, it takes a long time to get through a relatively short distance because you have to twist and turn and wind around obstacles. But your cleanroom shouldn’t be a labyrinth. If employees have to walk through narrow paths, wind around oddly placed workstations, or bump into each other constantly to get to the door, their workstations, the sink, or the fire extinguisher, you will have massive safety problems on your hands, not to mention a lot of wasted time and motion on the part of the cleanroom techs.

Poor ventilation

Good ventilation is necessary for any space to be comfortable, but it’s especially crucial in a cleanroom, where you’re trying to maintain a controlled environment with limited particles and contaminants. Additionally, in cleanrooms where hazardous materials are used, good ventilation is a necessary safety concern to ensure the well-being of workers.

Unable to maintain temperature

No one wants to work in a room that’s too hot and stuffy or freezing cold, so for the same of employees comfort and morale, a cleanroom that is a comfortable temperature matters. It’s vital too that your cleanroom can maintain its desired temperature to protect the products, materials, and chemicals stored in it, as they can be sensitive to temperature, and to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria that can compromise the cleanroom environment. This could be a problem with your HVAC, thermostat, or insulation, so be sure to select those things wisely and perform regular maintenance checks.

Good design is the first step to having a well-functioning cleanroom. If you recognize some of the issues we mentioned in your current cleanroom, it’s probably time for a redesign. There are a few things you can do in the meantime to work with the layout you have and increase efficiency, such as rearranging movable cleanroom furniture, moving processes that don’t require a controlled environment to a new area, or simply cleaning out any tools, materials, or storage that is no longer necessary.

Having issues with your cleanroom design? Call the experts at Angstrom Technology.