The pharmaceutical and life sciences industries face unprecedented challenges, from more distributed production, to reducing carbon emissions, improving resiliency and making operations more efficient.
Achieving all these goals simultaneously is a huge challenge and doing so while achieving Net Zero by 2050 is an even bigger one.
While the challenges affect many, facility operations are among the most impacted and must adopt innovative solutions that preserve operational integrity. In the US, winds towards Net Zero have softened, however lowering energy use and emissions, getting more resilient and operationally efficient is just good business. Much of the industry is also seeing pressure from local utility operators pushing for efficiency and peak load reduction due to the ever-increasing AI power demand and ageing utility infrastructure.
At the heart of this challenge lies a large and growing opportunity: Cleanrooms!
These are among the most energy-intensive spaces in the built environment, with ventilation systems accounting for 85-90% of total energy consumption and representing nearly all Scope 1 emissions from these facilities.
Most leading pharmaceutical companies aim to achieve carbon neutrality across total operations by 2050
As most of the leading pharmaceutical companies aim towards achieving carbon neutrality across total operations by 2050, the industry is seeking transformative approaches that can deliver dramatic energy and carbon reductions without sacrificing, and ideally improving, operational efficiency. Enter “airflow optimisation”; a proven strategy adopted by leading research institutions and labs and vivariums for over 15 years and now with rapid adoption in the cleanroom market.
The scale of the challenge
The pharmaceutical industry's carbon footprint is substantial and growing. The sector is responsible for 4.4% of global emissions and its CO2 footprint is forecast to triple by 2050 if left unchecked. Even more striking, the industry’s emission intensity is about 55% higher than that of the automotive's, highlighting the need for sector-specific decarbonisation strategies and the need to address pressure on the ageing and increasingly taxed grid.
The complexity of cleanroom environments has historically deterred aggressive energy reduction efforts. While this might sound draconian, it actually means this remains a very large untapped opportunity. As a reference, unlike conventional office spaces, cleanrooms must maintain precise particle count limits defined by ISO 14644 standards, with ISO Class 7 and ISO Class 8 environments permitting no more than 352,000 and 3,520,000 particles ≥0.5μm per cubic meter respectively.
Adaptive airflow as a data-driven solution
Traditional cleanroom design has operated on the principle of very high constant air changes per hour (ACH) to ensure compliance levels are achieved. This approach while providing compliance through a huge margin of error, does not consider actual contamination levels or occupancy and results in very large energy waste.
A typical ISO Class 7 cleanroom operates at 20–40 ACH with 15-25% ceiling coverage, continuously conditioning and circulating massive volumes of air even when spaces are unoccupied or experiencing minimal contamination events.
Leading life sciences companies are now turning to adaptive airflow management systems that use real-time particle monitoring to optimise ventilation rates dynamically. This approach represents a fundamental shift from constant ventilation and periodic measurement to demand-based airflow management and continuous measurement.
Since this approach samples the air typically less than every 10 minutes this means measurement would be taken 1,007 more times per week compared to a facility that takes a single weekly reading. In some organisations, these readings are taken even less than once a week. What is critical is that compliance is maintained while dramatically reducing energy consumption and now operators have better insight into operational improvement opportunities.
The technology works by deploying more robust particle monitoring in cleanroom environments, providing real-time feedback on contamination levels. Airflow rates are adjusted based on actual conditions rather than worst-case assumptions. When particle counts are well below ISO limits, the system reduces airflow to minimum levels. During high-risk activities or contamination events, airflow automatically increases to maintain compliance.
This data-driven approach delivers remarkable results. Energy consumption can be reduced by as much as 50% compared to traditional fixed-rate systems, achieved by reducing unnecessary heating, cooling, and fan energy use while maintaining or improving the cleanroom environment through enhanced real-time monitoring capabilities.
Most projects achieve a positive return on investment within 2-3 year
There are co-benefits of adaptive airflow as well. Reduced airflow translates directly into lower heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads, decreasing both operational costs and equipment wear. There is also increased site capacity for growth and other uses along with easier compliance reporting. Most projects achieve a positive return on investment within 2-3 years, with continuing operational savings throughout the building lifecycle.
Implementation strategies
The business case for adaptive airflow systems is compelling, particularly given the current regulatory and financial pressures facing the industry. For companies following the guidelines of the Paris Agreement by 2025 or local ordinances like BERDO in Boston, companies need to reduce emissions levels immediately for compliance.
Implementation of this technology is possible in both new construction and retrofit applications.
For existing facilities, the technology platform for adaptive airflow integrates with current building management systems (BMS) while adding an intelligent control layer that optimises performance without requiring major infrastructure changes. The minimum ACH rate remains adjustable to maintain compliance and quality margins, while 24/7 monitoring replaces periodic spot checking for more comprehensive oversight.
Benefits of data for operational and compliance requirements
A critical concern for any cleanroom optimisation initiative is maintaining regulatory compliance while achieving energy reductions. Adaptive airflow systems address this challenge by providing more robust monitoring than traditional approaches. Instead of periodic validation testing, continuous particle monitoring ensures compliance verification across all areas of the cleanroom.
The enhanced data layer also provides valuable insights into facilities management. Fault detection capabilities identify equipment issues before they impact production, while trend analysis helps optimise maintenance schedules and identify improvement opportunities. This proactive approach often results in better overall cleanroom performance and enhanced compliance compared to traditional systems.
Industry leadership and future outlook
Several pharmaceutical leaders are pioneering this approach as part of comprehensive decarbonisation strategies. The broader industry is recognising that a company's emissions can be addressed by decarbonisation projects with positive net present value making adaptive airflow systems an attractive option within sustainability programmes.
Success requires a holistic approach that addresses multiple stakeholders within organisations. Effective programmes engage quality teams from the outset. This collaborative approach ensures that energy reduction initiatives align with operational requirements and regulatory obligations.
The path forward
As the life sciences industry races toward ambitious 2050 carbon neutrality targets, cleanroom optimisation represents one of the most impactful strategies available. With ventilation systems representing the largest single source of facility emissions, adaptive airflow management offers a proven path to dramatic reductions without compromising the environmental controls essential to product quality.
The technology behind adaptive airflow has now been implemented by 8 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies globally in labs and vivariums and is now being aggressively pursued for cleanrooms.
Dynamic ventilation and more robust data collection and analytics allow for a future of AI support and continual operational improvement. The approach has also been deployed in other critical environments like labs worldwide over the last 25 years, so the question is no longer whether reducing carbon emissions and energy use in cleanrooms is possible, but how quickly the industry can scale these proven solutions.
This is an exciting and business driven opportunity that happens to have many significant sustainability benefits and although it will take time to refine legacy thinking and standards – some of which are over 50 years old, the next decade will certainly see a new and better way for efficient and data driven cleanroom operations.