Laboratory Air Conditioning Installation: Validated Climate Control for a New Pharmaceutical Lab

A long-standing pharmaceutical customer in North Wales was preparing to launch a new product line, which meant creating a brand-new substrate laboratory at their manufacturing site. Before production could begin, the room had to pass the client’s validation process, so the environment inside it had to be right from day one.

The brief set two firm requirements for the laboratory air conditioning and ventilation:

• Hepa filtered fresh air ventilation delivering more than six air changes per hour.
• Stable temperature control held within an 18–24°C band, all year round.

Both had to be designed, installed, commissioned and documented against the client’s User Requirement Specification (URS), and delivered in time for the launch. In a regulated pharmaceutical environment, a system that can’t be proven to meet the URS is a system that can’t be signed off.

ICE has been this site’s service partner for more than 20 years, so we already understood how the facility runs and what its quality team needs to see. We designed the system to our own specification, assisted the client with the URS, and confirmed point by point that our design complied with it before any equipment was ordered.

Air conditioning: two 10kW ceiling cassettes

Cooling and heating come from two Mitsubishi Electric Mr Slim Power Inverter systems, each pairing a 10kW four-way ceiling cassette with a matching outdoor unit running on lower-GWP R32 refrigerant. The inverter-driven compressors adjust their output to match the load, holding the laboratory within its 19–23°C band without the temperature swings of on/off systems.

Heat recovery ventilation: Mitsubishi Electric Lossnay

Fresh air is supplied by two Mitsubishi Electric Lossnay LGH-200RVXT3-E heat recovery ventilation units. They provide the air change rate the laboratory needs while recovering energy from the extract air, so incoming fresh air is already tempered before it reaches the room. That keeps running costs down and takes load off the air conditioning.

Both systems are run from wall-mounted Mitsubishi Electric controllers, so laboratory staff can check and adjust conditions at a glance.

Keeping the programme on track

Partway through the project, factory and logistics issues at Mitsubishi Electric put equipment deliveries at risk. We worked closely with our suppliers to track every item, re-planned the installation around the revised delivery dates and pulled out all the stops on site to recover the time. The laboratory was delivered on schedule.

The laboratory air conditioning and heat recovery ventilation were commissioned and handed over in October 2026, ready for the client’s validation process and the launch of their new product line.

• Proven against the URS: Airflows were measured and recorded at the ventilation grilles to confirm the required air change rate, and both air conditioning systems were fully commissioned and tested.
• Audit-ready documentation: The client received a complete operation and maintenance (O&M) manual, including commissioning reports, airflow readings, the equipment schedule, user guides and maintenance schedules, ready for their quality team.
• Efficient by design: Heat recovery ventilation and inverter-driven R32 systems keep energy use and running costs down for the life of the laboratory.
• On time, despite supply delays: Close supplier management protected the client’s launch date.

Planning a laboratory, cleanroom or controlled environment?

ICE designs, installs and maintains laboratory air conditioning and ventilation for pharmaceutical, healthcare and manufacturing sites across the UK. We can help you write your URS, design a system that meets it, and hand over the documentation your validation needs. Call us on 01928 568 800 or email sales@ice-ltd.co.uk to talk through your project.