Lightning-Fast Speed to Market with Net-Zero Standards
Phase 5 cGMP Warehouse | Research Triangle Park, NC
The design-build team of DPR Construction, Hanbury Architects, and Affiliated Engineers Inc, brought United Therapeutics’ (UT) vision of a site net-zero cGMP warehouse and distribution facility to life in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. The 55,000-sq.-ft. facility, a critical expansion of UT’s operations, truly raises the bar for sustainability standards in the industry.
About the
Facility
Located on an existing underutilized soccer field, Phase 5 cGMP Warehouse includes a 7,000-sq.-ft. cold room, 27,500 sq. ft. of ambient storage, support spaces, and the adaptive reuse of a former soccer fieldhouse. The facility is resilient, able to maintain operations even if the power grid catastrophically fails.
Biotech leader United Therapeutics (UT) had a clear vision and a well thought out list of priorities when it brought together a high-performing design-build team to deliver its groundbreaking new cGMP facility to support its growing operations. The first-in-class facility, with a visionary approach and lightning-fast speed to market, was designed and built to support the manufacturing, storage, and distribution of one of UT’s lifesaving pharmaceutical products, while treading lightly on the environment as a net zero energy facility.
Additionally, the project adhered to an ambitious 30-month design and construction schedule, used materials made in the U.S. wherever possible, met the owner’s budget, and prioritized a host of sustainability goals, including not only site net zero energy but also zero embodied carbon, LEED® Gold and ENERGY STAR® certifications.
Great Teams
Build Great Things
Given the importance of assembling a cohesive team that not only had extensive technical and life science experience, but also the collaborative mindset needed to deliver a first-of-its kind cGMP facility, UT selected DPR, Hanbury Architects and AEI to partner on the design-build team.
This integrated team, along with key trade partners, came to the table early. They worked closely with a highly engaged owner and other key stakeholders, including end-users and authorities having jurisdiction, throughout the entire design, construction, commissioning, and validation processes. They pushed the envelope and challenged norms and preconceptions when it came to efficiency and sustainability in a cGMP facility.
Ultimately, they delivered a cGMP facility unlike any done before—one that allows UT to deliver life-sustaining pharmaceuticals to an estimated 15,000 patients each year, while also adhering to UT’s corporate commitment to environmental stewardship.
Project Challenge:
Net-Zero Design and Zero Operational Carbon cGMP Facility
Phase 5 Warehouse meets cGMP for pharmaceutical products, meaning the facility meets exacting standards for 24/7 temperature control—making a net zero design an especially challenging goal for a facility with 7,000-sq.ft. of cold storage.
The project is not only the pinnacle of environmental stewardship and responsibility by a pharmaceutical owner, but also delivers supply chain resiliency for UT’s pharmaceuticals. As designed and constructed, the facility enables the company to maintain operations even during electrical grid outages.
How did the design-build team achieve a net zero design cGMP facility, something that had not been done before? The first step was determining an anticipated target goal of energy usage intensity (EUI) for the facility. It provides a benchmark of energy usage compared to similar buildings. The team wanted to reduce the EUI as much as possible to make it as energy efficient as possible. This EUI figure is a typical place to start—but for a hybrid ambient/cold room cGMP warehouse, there were no published baseline expected EUIs.
Once the baseline EUI was developed for Phase 5 cGMP Warehouse, the team turned to designing the facility to achieve site net zero energy. The design team concentrated on several ways to do this, including by reducing the building’s energy demand through passive design strategies, active design strategies, renewable energy generation and more.
Green
Solutions
Geothermal Wells
Acting as a very high efficiency heat pump, the geothermal HVAC system achieves its efficiency by using the steady temperature of the Earth rather than the highly variable outside air temperature to condition the building. This system is coupled with six pipe heat recovery chillers and a 20-ton fluid cooler to balance the loads and optimize the efficiency of the design.
The requirements of this building helped to establish the annual heating and cooling loads and the peak heating and cooling loads. The geothermal bore field and system needed to be properly sized to address the loads. The design-build team designed a geothermal system with 40 individual bores (or wells), each 500 ft. deep into the Earth, on three independent loops. There are approximately 40,000 ft. of vertical bore and another 3,000 ft. of lateral piping laid. In constructing this geothermal system, the team was challenged in moving the 70 to 80 cubic yards of mud and management of extensive groundwater.
Resiliency—via Microgrid Technology
The project’s sustainability goal included NOT using traditional emergency backup systems like natural gas generators. This led to the exploration and implementation of lithium-ion battery backup systems by Tesla. The batteries are connected to the solar PV systems through a microgrid, which enables the batteries to recharge when the PV array is producing a surplus of energy. This microgrid was a key solution and a critical component in making this project work.
The team had to plan for the worst-case scenario emergency battery backup requirements meaning the building needed to run for 24 hours post outage, after which loads would shed for various components of the building in orders of least priority—ambient warehouse, support, office space. The cold room had to stay running for another 24 hours. This all determined the battery size that was needed, and led the Phase 5 Warehouse team to partner with Tesla to utilize their megapacks. Pairing two of them, to provide 6.2 MWh of battery capacity, met the needs of this facility for resiliency and flexibility.
Renewable Energy Generation
Since passive and active sustainable design elements by themselves do not ensure a net zero energy facility, they were coupled with renewable energy generation on site. This was achieved in part by a large rooftop PV array, which included 1200 PV panels—spanning 40,000 sq. ft. with 560 kW peak output and 767 MWh of projected annual production and net metering with the local electric utility. The PV system is connected to the project’s microgrid and can recharge the Tesla Megapack when the building electrical system is disconnected from the utility, allowing the facility to operate for an extended period. Therefore, the design does not include a standby generator.
Key considerations included ensuring the access requirements for firefighters and emergency personnel in and around these PV panels were met. To meet insurance requirements, the team sought a solution that avoided punching holes through the roof by devising a weighted skid solution with each panel sitting on a sled weighted down by concrete blocks.
Passive & Active Design Strategies
First strategy was to orient the building to minimize site impact to the existing environment, preserving the wooded area. The facility’s HVAC system also employs an outdoor air system to provide dedicated ventilation to the space and meet the cGMP requirement. Recirculating air rotation units use ventilation to ensure a consistent steady-state temperature profile throughout the entire ambient storage space.
Another key was ensuring good insulation while also balancing that against embodied carbon. Building insulation, which reduces a facility’s heat gain or loss, increases the impact of a facility’s embodied carbon. Strategies also included lighting occupancy sensors in strategic locations, ENERGY STAR-certified office equipment, and regenerative charging lift trucks.
Green
Solutions
Geothermal Wells
Acting as a very high efficiency heat pump, the geothermal HVAC system achieves its efficiency by using the steady temperature of the Earth rather than the highly variable outside air temperature to condition the building. This system is coupled with six pipe heat recovery chillers and a 20-ton fluid cooler to balance the loads and optimize the efficiency of the design.
The requirements of this building helped to establish the annual heating and cooling loads and the peak heating and cooling loads. The geothermal bore field and system needed to be properly sized to address the loads. The design-build team designed a geothermal system with 40 individual bores (or wells), each 500 ft. deep into the Earth, on three independent loops. There are approximately 40,000 ft. of vertical bore and another 3,000 ft. of lateral piping laid. In constructing this geothermal system, the team was challenged in moving the 70 to 80 cubic yards of mud and management of extensive groundwater.
Resiliency—via Microgrid Technology
The project’s sustainability goal included NOT using traditional emergency backup systems like natural gas generators. This led to the exploration and implementation of lithium-ion battery backup systems by Tesla. The batteries are connected to the solar PV systems through a microgrid, which enables the batteries to recharge when the PV array is producing a surplus of energy. This microgrid was a key solution and a critical component in making this project work.
The team had to plan for the worst-case scenario emergency battery backup requirements meaning the building needed to run for 24 hours post outage, after which loads would shed for various components of the building in orders of least priority—ambient warehouse, support, office space. The cold room had to stay running for another 24 hours. This all determined the battery size that was needed, and led the Phase 5 Warehouse team to partner with Tesla to utilize their megapacks. Pairing two of them, to provide 6.2 MWh of battery capacity, met the needs of this facility for resiliency and flexibility.
Renewable Energy Generation
Since passive and active sustainable design elements by themselves do not ensure a net zero energy facility, they were coupled with renewable energy generation on site. This was achieved in part by a large rooftop PV array, which included 1200 PV panels—spanning 40,000 sq. ft. with 560 kW peak output and 767 MWh of projected annual production and net metering with the local electric utility. The PV system is connected to the project’s microgrid and can recharge the Tesla Megapack when the building electrical system is disconnected from the utility, allowing the facility to operate for an extended period. Therefore, the design does not include a standby generator.
Key considerations included ensuring the access requirements for firefighters and emergency personnel in and around these PV panels were met. To meet insurance requirements, the team sought a solution that avoided punching holes through the roof by devising a weighted skid solution with each panel sitting on a sled weighted down by concrete blocks.
Passive & Active Design Strategies
First strategy was to orient the building to minimize site impact to the existing environment, preserving the wooded area. The facility’s HVAC system also employs an outdoor air system to provide dedicated ventilation to the space and meet the cGMP requirement. Recirculating air rotation units use ventilation to ensure a consistent steady-state temperature profile throughout the entire ambient storage space.
Another key was ensuring good insulation while also balancing that against embodied carbon. Building insulation, which reduces a facility’s heat gain or loss, increases the impact of a facility’s embodied carbon. Strategies also included lighting occupancy sensors in strategic locations, ENERGY STAR-certified office equipment, and regenerative charging lift trucks.
The biggest achievements of this project and what were the biggest challenges at the start of it, were achieving site net zero. It’s really making sound decisions throughout the process. I don’t think it would’ve been possible without the great teamwork that we have.”
Chris Small
Principal, Hanbury Design
Leveraging
Lessons Learned
Constructing a bleeding-edge site net zero facility required leveraging lessons learned from previous projects. UT had already made a lot of progress toward sustainable facilities, and there were a lot of operational lessons to be drawn from previous facilities.
DPR had previously delivered two other warehouse facilities on this UT campus and applied the lessons learned from those projects to Phase 5 cGMP Warehouse. Throughout this project, the team engaged with current end users in other UT facilities to pull best practices—what’s working or not—which helped to streamline the design process on this project.
For example, the team uncovered that users did NOT want in-rack sprinklers due to the risk of an operator hitting a single sprinkler and ruining massive amount of product. This spurred an alternative design.
Leveraging
Lessons Learned
DPR self-performed the concrete, creating a super flat slab that had a strict Fmin requirement needed for the automated systems to work. DPR’s self-perform group dialed in the concrete mix design and used its expertise and experience from previous projects to meet stringent floor thickness and flatness requirements. DPR’s self-perform crews had previously proven their ability to flawlessly execute a slab with strict Fmin requirements on another project—even receiving a Golden Trowel award at the World of Concrete!
Leveraging
Lessons Learned
Constructing a bleeding-edge site net zero facility required leveraging lessons learned from previous projects. UT had already made a lot of progress toward sustainable facilities, and there were a lot of operational lessons to be drawn from previous facilities.
DPR had previously delivered two other warehouse facilities on this UT campus and applied the lessons learned from those projects to Phase 5 cGMP Warehouse. Throughout this project, the team engaged with current end users in other UT facilities to pull best practices—what’s working or not—which helped to streamline the design process on this project.
For example, the team uncovered that users did NOT want in-rack sprinklers due to the risk of an operator hitting a single sprinkler and ruining massive amount of product. This spurred an alternative design.
Leveraging
Lessons Learned
DPR self-performed the concrete, creating a super flat slab that had a strict Fmin requirement needed for the automated systems to work. DPR’s self-perform group dialed in the concrete mix design and used its expertise and experience from previous projects to meet stringent floor thickness and flatness requirements. DPR’s self-perform crews had previously proven their ability to flawlessly execute a slab with strict Fmin requirements on another project—even receiving a Golden Trowel award at the World of Concrete!
Factors Driving
Project Success
An Engaged Owner that lays out clear goals from the outset and those goals are the arbiter of every decision made on the project. UT formalized its 6 guiding principles, in order of priority, that directed the project from kickoff. Every decision made thereafter was run through the lens of how it met those guiding principles. Having a commitment to the project principles, UT was able to make an investment in sustainability and the design-build process that will pay for itself multiple times over through the critical resiliency solutions developed with the microgrid and other sustainable initiatives.
Design-Build Delivery was a critical factor in helping meet the project schedule, as design-build allowed construction to get underway before design was fully complete. It meant the full team could collaborate from the beginning including key trade partners essential to critical path, from the cold room vendor to the geothermal consultant. This focused the team to deliver not only a highly sustainable project that is environmentally conscious, but a project that delivers a critical medication supply to help tens of thousands in need.
Building on Lessons Learned by this team on UT’s previous warehouse projects and engagement with end users was critical during design and construction. Having the historical knowledge to implement the best of the best operational practices and receiving live feedback meant the team was never designing, or constructing in a vacuum. The end users took ownership in the project right along with the rest of the project team.
We’re a small part of something much bigger and it becomes real when you have a project and a collaboration as successful as this one and you can think about the bigger picture and just, you know, it helps get you up every day and be prideful in what you do.”
Chetan Potdar
DPR Design Integration Manager
Design-Build the Keystone for Zero Operational Carbon cGMP
Facility
United Therapeutics had zero-carbon project goals. A DPR-led design-build team made it reality.
Project
Recognition
I2SL - Sustainable Laboratory Award’s Excellence in Resilience & Renewable Energy
2024
ENR Southeast - Best Project Award for Manufacturing
2024
2024 ISPE Facility of the Year Award - Honorable
Mention
The Phase 5 cGMP Warehouse project receives a 2024 ISPE Facility of the Year Award - Honorable Mention for their tremendous sustainability achievements on the project.
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