How Ice Makes Heat at a New CSL Facility in Germany

CSL’s new R&D facility in Marburg, Germany, embraced a bundle of pro-environment strategies in its design, especially in the building’s system for heating and cooling.

The centerpiece is ice storage coupled with a heat pump that makes it possible to heat and cool the building without using fossil fuels.

“Heating and cooling in M600 is provided by an innovative energy system,” said Vicky Pirzas, CSL’s Vice President, Recombinant Product Development & Managing Director, R&D Marburg.

Watch the video above to see how it works.

Renewable energy sources power the heat pump and efficient ventilation systems extract heat from the exhaust air and use it to preheat the cold incoming air. Eighty percent of the thermal energy used can be fed back into the system. The cold from the supply air is also used and fed to the cooling water system. In addition, all heat-conducting pipes in the new building in Marburg are 100 percent insulated.

“This insulation primarily serves to protect people, but at the same time it saves energy in a highly effective manner,” said Carsten Skill, Program Manager of new R&D campus. “On the one hand, no heat is lost to the environment, and, on the other hand, rooms need to be cooled less.”

The modern building construction and shell minimize the energy balance of the building accordingly. Thermo-glazed windows and facade insulation adapted to the building were designed to reduce heating costs in winter and lower air-conditioning costs in summer. Plenty of daylight and LED lights installed throughout the building to save electricity.

CSL, with locations around the world, has 30,000 employees and includes several businesses that make medicines for rare and serious diseases as well as vaccines. In addition to R&D, CSL also has a large manufacturing facility in Marburg.

Marburg’s R&D campus is coming online as CSL launches a sustainability plan with carbon reduction targets. In August, the global biotech company announced it would seek to reduce emissions associated with its own operations by 40 percent and that it intends to ensure suppliers who contribute 67 percent of Scope 3 emissions have set Scope 1 & 2 reduction targets, aligned with the science-based targets initiative.