Kelly Morgan, Daniel Bizo 14- Aug, 2013 ~ As a privately owned financial institution, Fidelity Investments has been known for its attention to detail and willingness to think and invest for the long term. Both are in evidence in its approach to datacenters. The firm built quite a few traditional facilities over the years, but in 2008 began seeking an approach that would provide rapid on-site deployment, along with its usual requirements for very high reliability and quality, yet could still be adapted to suit emerging technology trends. The result is Centercore, Fidelity’s own version of an off-site constructed datacenter that is relatively quick to build yet flexible in design. Fidelity developed the concept with help of Integrated Design Group (a patent is pending) and is now advancing the Centercore brand by licensing the underlying technology to its fabricator Environmental Air Systems. Read More…(Attach to link…)
Fidelity Investments received The 2013 CoreNet Global Industry Excellence Awardfor its next-generation data centers. Fidelity’s Centercore data center is an innovative blend of traditional and modular designs that combines flexibility, resiliency, and on-demand capacity with the look and feel of a traditional data center.
TAMPA (November 12, 2012) – ISPE announced during the Plenary Session at its 2012 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. USA, that Merck’s Vaccine Bulk Manufacturing Facility (VBF) Program of Projects is the Overall Winner of the 2012 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) program.
Faced with a projected production shortfall for the Varicella product franchise, Merck responded by delivering the Vaccine Bulk Manufacturing Facility (VBF) Program of Projects in Durham, North Carolina, USA. The 214,000-square-foot facility was built in record time and doubled the output of the vaccine used for Chicken Pox and Shingles.
The Merck Team used an innovative hybrid modular construction strategy that maximized offsite fabrication and equipment testing. Interesting for this application, the integrated construction execution strategy decoupled the design and construction of the building envelope and shell from interior process components, enabling parallel processes – as soon as the building shell was dried in and elevated slab poured, modules were installed simultaneously above the slab. This resulted in the ability to establish two independent work zones (above and below the slab) and saved five months on the schedule.
The team was organized as “One Team” with all members co-located in an integrated partnership. LEAN Six Sigma principles were used throughout the project and resulted in an accelerated transfer of systems to operations. Integrating more than 200 lessons learned from the existing facility and process, the facility was delivered 40% faster than industry benchmarks. For this, Merck was named the 2012 Facility of the Year Awards Overall Winner.
More information about Merck’s winning project, as well as the Facility of the Year Awards program in general, can be found at www.FacilityoftheYear.org.
About the Facility of the Year Awards Program
Sponsored by ISPE, INTERPHEX, and Pharmaceutical Processing magazine, the Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) program recognizes state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing projects that utilize new and innovative technologies to enhance the delivery of a quality project, as well as reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines. Now in its seventh year, the awards program effectively spotlights the accomplishments, shared commitment, and dedication of individuals in companies worldwide to innovate and advance pharmaceutical manufacturing technology for the benefit of all global consumers.
Distech Controls, an innovation leader in building automation and energy management solutions, awarded its annual Green Integrator award to Envirotrol, LLC. Each year, Distech selects an outstanding integrator that has shown exceptional aptitude and knowledge in providing solutions for facility operation that are reliable and maximize building energy efficiency.
Envirotrol was selected for its work at the Wake Forest Biotech Place in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Wake Forest Biotech Place, a former tobacco warehouse and machine shop was redeveloped into a 240,000-square-foot research lab and classroom facility by Wexford Science +Technology and achieved LEED Gold certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute.
In delivering an energy efficient solution for this project, Envirotrol incorporated both direct integration of mechanical and electrical equipment and Distech Controls to provide a best in class solution for a Chilled Beam HVAC controls system. By integrating energy usage metrics into the facility management system, Envirotrol is providing real-time energy usage information to help the client manage peak facility performance while maintaining reliable and dependable operations.
Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX), a leading provider of commercial, industrial and institutional heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”) services, today announced that it has acquired a majority interest in Environmental Air Systems (“EAS”) headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina.
