The Study of Roof Performance on Energy Consumption of Cleanroom for Pharmaceutical Production

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the performance of roof insulation and its impact on energy consumption in a cleanroom of a modern pharmaceutical manufacturing facility using the OpenStudio software for data analysis. The study focused on comparing energy consumption and cooling loads in the cleanroom with various types and thicknesses of roof insulation, including Polyethylene (PE) at 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm thickness, and Polyurethane (PU) at 25 mm and 50 mm thickness. The results indicated that increasing the thickness of roof insulation significantly reduced energy consumption for cooling. The 50 mm thick Polyurethane (PU) insulation provided the highest efficiency, with total annual energy consumption of 68,839.33 kWh and cooling energy consumption reduced to 27,159.36 kWh, compared to 71,943.75 kWh and 29,817.36 kWh, respectively, for 3 mm thick Polyethylene (PE) insulation. Additionally, increasing insulation thickness also lowered the average cooling load from 8.93 MBtu (PE 3 mm) to 7.72 MBtu (PU 50 mm). The findings suggested that selecting thicker roof insulation effectively reduced energy usage and enhances energy efficiency in cleanrooms. Therefore, the appropriate insulation installation was a cost-effective strategy to reduce energy expenses and to improve building energy performance, with 50 mm thick Polyurethane (PU) offering the best results.