United Therapeutics CGMP Warehouse
Durham, NC
Manufacture
Region: Hell Southeast
Sent by: DPR
Owner: United Therapeutics
Lead design company: Hanbury
General contractor: DPR
Civil and structural engineer: Nv5
MEP Engineer: Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI)
Landscape architect: Surface 678
Building a warehouse and climate -controlled logistics installation for Therapeutics joined the North Carolina Research Triangle was a matter of careful energy and planning management. The installation is powered by geothermal wells on the site and solar panels, with Tesla battery megapacks that serves as an autonomous backup micrograph. As a production facility for pharmaceuticals, the consistent power was a need to control the temperature 24/7, a hard goal for the ambitious zero carbon goals of the project.
The design design project team was commissioned to make sure that each WATT used by the installation is offset by the generation on the site, without carbon credit purchases to achieve the zero carbon target. “From the planning and selection of the earliest place to the energy modeling, to passive insulation, glass strategies and all under the sun, we have used all the tools available to reduce energy consumption,” says Chris Smalls, director and leader of the Hanbury Design Science Market, which led the design team.
Photo Cortesy DPR Construction
The solar installation of the site includes 1,186 475 W panels linked to seven 62 kW investors, which is expected to generate a 767 MWh combined per year. The geothermal installation requested 40 vertical strong, 6 inches per day and 100 feet deep. Tesla Megapacks provides 6.2 MWh of storage to the site, allowing two days of power out of utility as needed.
Photo Cortesy DPR Construction
All this is in service to maintain the installation with the strict requirements of the current regulations of manufacturing practices of the United States Food and Drug Administration, which establish strict climate control standards for indoor spaces, especially in the cold storage room, where pharmaceuticals must remain at almost constant temperature. Smalls says the installation has exceeded these requirements and that everything without compromising the owner’s zero carbon goals. “Everything is close to design, even better in some cases.”
The installation is underway to receive certifications Leed Gold, Leed Zero Carbon and Energystar.
