Starting from practice, move towards clean room solutions for the industry:
When I started my career in architecture in 1971, I had no experience in cleanroom construction. At the age of 21, in a microelectronics cleanroom project, I had to figure out a solution on my own. I studied every drawing and detail to understand how the airflow interacts with equipment and materials, as well as how the return air position affects cleanroom conditions. I understand that the level of cleanroom design varies greatly. That experience inspired me to dedicate my entire career to creating cleanrooms that don't just look good on paper. I have learned how to make a clean room work.
For many years, Hodess Cleanrooms has been constantly summarizing lessons learned and developing innovative air treatment and load isolation designs to improve efficiency and reduce costs. We have also expanded our capabilities in certification, testing, and proprietary cleanroom components through strategic acquisitions such as Protocol Management Services and Cleanrooms West.
Hodess currently covers three major markets: life sciences (pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, cell therapy, radiation), microelectronics (semiconductors, microelectromechanical systems, defense), and green energy (electric vehicle batteries, solar panels). We design, construct, and certify cleanrooms, drying rooms, and environmental rooms. We not only build according to specifications, but also optimize the layout, provide operational guidance, and apply a wealth of experience and lessons learned from thousands of projects.
　　Why do cleanrooms fail:
The design of clean rooms often resembles that of regular office spaces. The contractor built the walls and ceilings, and the mechanical engineer chose the "ISO 5" standard and constructed them with parameters of 450 air changes per hour, but did not model the actual air flow situation. This usually results in cleanrooms being unable to pass certification. Before deciding on which ISO level and air exchange rate to use, it is necessary to evaluate the actual use, length, width, height, and functionality of the room.
At Hodess, we are often invited to repair brand new cleanrooms that do not function as expected. Devices worth millions of dollars may eventually be trapped in unverifiable rooms. When a cleanroom fails, the real cost goes far beyond repair costs - there are also productivity losses, material waste, and delayed product launches.
We have seen some projects where key elements, such as furnace exhaust, were overlooked and threatened the entire operation. With our internal expertise and use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling, we are able to optimize airflow, particle levels, air pressure, temperature, and humidity before construction begins. By fully understanding the room and its usage, our cleanroom can effectively prevent common problems that plague poorly designed rooms, such as hotspots, dead zones, and pressure loss.
　　Experience summary of over 2000 clean rooms:
Over the course of more than forty years, after experiencing thousands of projects, we have summarized several uncompromising principles:
1. Design priority: We use CFD technology to model airflow, particle migration, pressure cascade, and energy balance. Based on our understanding of the usage of clean rooms, we can reduce the air exchange rate by 60-90% compared to uniform designs, while meeting regulations and saving energy.
2. Construction quality is crucial. The overall performance of a clean room depends on its weak connections. We select wall and ceiling systems based on application requirements - from welded joint panels for radioactive facilities to modular systems for biological processing. The selection of materials is crucial when it comes to complying with ISO 14644-1 certification and ensuring product performance.
3. Control the "four major elements". Every successful facility effectively manages temperature, humidity, air pressure, and particle counting. Ignoring any of them, the cleanroom will not be able to achieve the expected performance. People often focus on particles, but temperature, humidity, and air pressure interact with each other - a balance needs to be maintained.
4. Monitoring: A successful step in the clean room. A clean room with high-quality design should be able to operate reliably for decades - this is where monitoring comes into play. We integrated monitoring, specified sensors and logic early in the design phase, and planned together with the airflow diagram. For pharmaceutical and life science facilities, validated systems such as Vaisala viewLinc CMS can provide audit trails, alert functions, and data integrity required to comply with GMP requirements.
Precision sensors are crucial in drying rooms and high-tech environments; Without them, even intricately designed spaces may deviate from the tolerance range unnoticed. Our service department provides support to customers for a long period of time after construction, helping them maintain clean rooms and troubleshoot issues. Calibration and maintenance are often overlooked; We have encountered sensors that have been used in cleanrooms for decades but have never been calibrated, resulting in incorrect readings.
　　End to end delivery:
Our project covers from the ISO 8 buffer preparation room to the drying room at the giga factory. Whether it's a rapid bioprocessing facility delivered within eight months or a battery factory over 500000 square feet, the principle is the same: design, build, clean, certify, monitor, and support throughout the entire lifecycle of the cleanroom.
Cleanrooms are complex and finely tuned environments that require continuous support throughout their entire lifecycle. It is precisely because of this profound understanding that Hodess has never delivered a cleanroom that did not function as designed in its history. Our philosophy is to create "precision systems worth millions of dollars" and help customers keep them running continuously.