Holy cow - just reviewed the bills for a university research facility with semiconductor clean rooms. Their HVAC loads are absolutely insane. Running 24/7 at full capacity, $18K monthly just for the clean room environmental controls. Is this normal for these types of facilities?
University Lab Clean Room Power Costs
Vanessa, that sounds about right unfortunately. Clean rooms are energy hogs - constant air circulation, precise temperature/humidity control, HEPA filtration. The power density can be 10x normal office space.
Darrell's right. We audited a pharma clean room facility that was using more energy per square foot than a data center. Only potential savings are usually in scheduling non-critical operations during off-peak hours.
Makes sense. At least the research grants cover most of the costs. Still shocking to see that level of energy intensity though!