Critical Environments
What are Mission Critical Environments?
‘Mission’ Critical Environments refer to facilities where uninterrupted operation is crucial for the organization’s core functions. These include data centers, control rooms, and healthcare facilities, among others.
Why do they need to be cleaned?
Maintaining cleanliness in mission critical environments is essential to ensure optimal operational conditions. Contaminants such as dust, dirt, and debris can compromise equipment performance, airflow, and cooling efficiency. They can also pose risks to data integrity, equipment reliability, and even personnel health.
Why do they need specialized cleaning?
Specialized cleaning is necessary in these environments due to their unique operational requirements and sensitivity to contamination. Conventional cleaning methods may not suffice, as they might introduce particulates or residues that could disrupt sensitive equipment or compromise clean room standards. Specialized cleaning ensures that stringent cleanliness and safety standards are met without disrupting critical operations or compromising environmental integrity.
What are the typical elements of Critical Environment Solutions?
Overhead Cleaning
We meticulously clean critical components like cable trays, lighting fixtures, ductwork, and piping in clean room environments to remove dust and maintain optimal operational conditions across different ISO classifications.
Ceiling Plenum Cleaning
Regularly cleaning the ceiling plenum in clean rooms is essential for removing airborne particles, reducing filter strain, and safeguarding equipment performance, ensuring ISO cleanliness compliance. We also offer robotic cleaning for HVAC ducts upon request.
Exterior Hardware Cleaning
Using eco-friendly solutions and HEPA filtered vacuums, we clean hardware components such as server racks, switches, and routers in clean room facilities to enhance reliability and extend operational lifespan while meeting ISO standards.
Top of the Floor Cleaning
Our specialized agents remove dust and dirt from clean room flooring, ensuring proper static dissipation and safe operational conditions under various ISO classifications.
Underfloor Plenum Cleaning
We provide targeted cleaning of the underfloor plenum in clean room environments to prevent dirt buildup, minimizing risks to equipment and ensuring compliance with stringent ISO standards for clean room operations.
What Cleaning Standard do you require?
Clean rooms and other critical environments are classified based on their level of airborne contamination, as defined by the ISO 14644-1 standard. This standard has replaced the older US Federal Standard 209E and provides a comprehensive framework for measuring and reporting air cleanliness by counting particles of different sizes in a cubic meter of air. The higher the number of particles, the dirtier the room.
The table below outlines the different classes of clean rooms, the number of particles per cubic meter by micrometer size and typical uses for each class. This classification helps ensure that facilities meet the necessary cleanliness standards to protect sensitive equipment and processes.
Class | Particulate Count/m³ by Particle Size(µm) | Typical Use | |||
| 0.1 µm particles | 0.5 µm particles | 1 µm particles | 5 µm particles | ||
| ISO 9 | NA | 35,200,000 | 8,320,000 | 293,000 | General Manufacturing, General Quality Control Laboratories, Consumer Electronics Production |
| ISO 8 | NA | 3,520,000 | 832,000 | 29,300 | Computer rooms |
| ISO 7 | NA | 352,000 | 83,200 | 2,930 | Hospital operating rooms, some factories |
| ISO 6 | 1,000,000 | 35,200 | 8,320 | 293 | Manufacturing computer disk drives, sensitive materials |
| ISO 5 | 100,000 | 3,520 | 832 | 29 | High-purity fine chemicals for industrial use and research, ion lithium batteries for electric vehicles, solar panel manufacturing, active medical devices |
| ISO 4 | 10,000 | 352 | 83 | NA | LED Manufacturing, High-precision Machining, Satellite Assembly, Photolithography, High-purity Chemical Synthesis |
| ISO 3 | 1,000 | 35 | 8 | NA | Optical Fiber Production, Laser Assembly, Aerospace Component Manufacturing, Medical Implants, Production of storage devices like SSDs. |
| ISO 2 | 100 | 4 | NA | NA | Microelectronics Fabrication, Production of highly sensitive medical implants, Manufacturing of sterile pharmaceutical products with high sensitivity, Advanced Biotechnology Research, Precision Metrology |
| ISO 1 | 10 | NA | NA | NA | Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, Aerospace Instrument Assembly, Ultra-precision Optics. Nanotechnology Fabrication, Genetic Research |
- Protection of Sensitive Equipment: By eliminating contaminants and maintaining cleanliness, our solutions protect sensitive equipment from damage and degradation.
- Operational Efficiency and Environmental Optimization: Our solutions optimize operational efficiency through regular maintenance, reducing electrostatic charge and rusting while also minimizing heating and humidity losses for enhanced equipment performance and longevity
- Better Air Quality: Our services are dedicated to enhancing air quality through advanced cleaning and filtration techniques, ensuring a healthier and more productive environment for sensitive operations.
- Industry leading Partnership: Our collaboration with DataClean (USA) enhances our critical environment solutions with specialized cleaning expertise tailored to maintain stringent cleanliness standards. This partnership ensures that mission critical environments benefit from industry-leading cleaning protocols and specialized services that safeguard equipment performance and operational integrity.
- Specialized Equipment: Our cleaning teams utilize specialized equipment and techniques to effectively remove contaminants and maintain cleanliness in critical environments.
- Customized Cleaning Protocols: We develop customized cleaning protocols tailored to the specific requirements of each facility, ensuring thorough cleaning and compliance with industry standards.
- CGL Policy Provision: We differentiate ourselves by offering comprehensive General Liability (CGL) insurance policies. This coverage provides peace of mind to our clients, ensuring protection against potential liabilities and risks associated with our services, which is a critical factor in choosing our company for your clean room and critical environment needs.
- Site Preparation: We require efficient site access and storage management, thorough equipment and connection checks, and inspection of electrical points and extension boards to ensure readiness and safety.
- PPE and Preparation: Our team members wear specialized bodysuits, safety shoes, goggles, helmets, and use ladders as needed. They receive briefings on access control and site safety protocols to maintain a secure environment.
- Cleaning Process: We start with vacuuming, wiping, and scrubbing, following a top-to-bottom approach: cleaning cable trays, server racks, underfloor, and top of the floor spaces for thorough cleanliness with minimal disruption.
- Post-Cleaning Activities: After cleaning, we measure air particle counts for validation, generate detailed reports, and capture before and after pictures where allowed. This ensures transparency and documents the effectiveness of our cleaning services.
So Why Choose FLEXI?
Proven Expertise: With over 12 years in the field, we have cleaned more than 75 lakh square feet of clean room spaces which includes approximately 15,000 live-operating server racks. Our partnership with DataClean in the USA, bringing over 45 years of experience in the industry, further enhances our credibility and commitment to delivering high-quality cleaning services.
Diverse Scale Capabilities: From small-scale colocation facilities to large hyperscale data centers, we cater to a spectrum of data center sizes, ensuring tailored solutions for diverse infrastructure needs.
Wide Range of ISO Class Cleanings: We provide a diverse range of ISO class cleanings, tailored to meet various cleanliness standards and regulatory requirements across different industries and environments.
FAQs
It depends on the level of cleanliness required and the contamination introduced by the activities conducted within the facility. Here are some general guidelines:
- Monthly: For high contamination levels or critical operations.
- Quarterly or Bi-Annually: For moderate contamination levels.
- Annually: For low contamination levels.
FLEXI is the smart choice for several reasons:
- Expertise and Training: Technicians are trained and equipped to handle critical environments, ensuring thorough and safe cleaning.
- Minimized Downtime: Professional methods prevent downtime and potential damage during cleaning.
- Comprehensive Support: FLEXI provides knowledgeable support staff, financial resources, and insurance, ensuring peace of mind.
Using FLEXI provides benefits for:
- Equipment: Prevents overheating, power-supply failures, system glitches, and downtime by keeping equipment free from harmful contamination.
- Facilities: Protects your substantial investment by reducing energy usage, wear on components, and preventing warranty voids.
- People: Ensures a healthy working environment, reducing potential illnesses and improving productivity and morale.
No. FLEXI technicians work around your operations and staff. Certain activities might require restricted access to your work area, but most tasks can be performed without disrupting your operations.
Yes, FLEXI operates 24/7, seven days a week, to accommodate your schedule.
The cost varies based on several factors including the desired service, facility size, existing contamination level, desired contamination level, equipment density, and cleaning frequency.
Your equipment demands it. Controlled environments require regular cleaning to maintain specialized conditions and prevent contamination, which can cause equipment failures and reduced air quality for personnel.
A controlled environment is any area restricted due to special contamination, power, security, temperature, or humidity requirements. Examples include data centers, cleanrooms, computer rooms, telecom closets, specialized production environments, and laboratories.
Regular janitorial services are typically not sufficient for controlled environments. Your ‘mission’ Critical Environment needs a preventative maintenance program carried out by trained and experienced professionals to ensure proper cleanliness and operational reliability.
FLEXI has been providing high-level computer room cleaning since 2012, serving clients like STT, NTT, CtrlS, Barclays, Mercedes Benz, Skoda amongst many others, ensuring increased productivity and reduced downtime.
- Class 8: Typical for computer rooms
- Class 7: Used in hospital operating rooms
- Class 6: For manufacturing sensitive materials
- Class 5: For special semiconductors and pharmaceuticals
- Class 4 to Class 1: For semiconductor fabrication requiring extreme cleanliness.