News & Insights

Contributors: Allen Koester, Cyle Graber, John Glenski 

For decades, power and water decisions in pharmaceutical manufacturing were treated as fixed constraints. Utilities were designed conservatively, locked in early, and rarely revisited, because the cost of getting them wrong was simply too high. 

What is new is the way efficiency decisions are being made. Instead of broad mandates or incremental upgrades, leading organizations are treating power and water as strategic systems evaluated through the lens of process risk, batch value, and lifecycle performance. 

Power and water efficiency in pharmaceutical manufacturing has matured beyond isolated upgrades or sustainability checklists. It is now a reflection of how well an organization understands its processes, manages risk, and plans for the future. 

Efficiency within constraints that do not move

Pharmaceutical manufacturers operate within constraints that most industries never face. Raw materials cannot be substituted freely. Process parameters are fixed. Quality standards and regulatory requirements leave little room for compromise. 

As pressure increases to control costs while continuing to deliver innovative therapies, attention naturally shifts to the few variables that can be influenced. Labor efficiency through automation is one. Variable operating costs—particularly energy and water—are another. 

This is why power and water efficiency has moved from a sustainability sidebar to a core operational concern. Notably, pharma is one of the few sectors consistently backing ESG commitments with real capital investment—not because of external pressure, but because efficiency gains align directly with long-term operational resilience. 

Water and power as tightly coupled systems

Water is the lifeblood of pharmaceutical manufacturing, touching nearly every aspect of production—from formulation and cleaning to sterilization and environmental control. Because patient safety is directly at stake, water must be produced, stored, and distributed at extremely high purity levels. 

Creating and maintaining that purity is energy-intensive. Power is required not only for purification systems, but also for cleanroom environments, HVAC, high air change rates, humidification, and process air used in drying and coating operations. In many facilities, HVAC alone represents one of the largest energy loads on site. 

The result is an industry where water and power are inseparable. Any meaningful efficiency conversation has to address both together. 

Many of the most effective power and water strategies deliberately avoid direct intervention in GMP-critical systems. 

Instead, teams are focusing on the infrastructure that supports critical processes without being subject to the same regulatory scrutiny: utilities distribution, thermal storage, non-potable water reuse, and load management strategies. Improvements in these areas can significantly reduce energy and water consumption without introducing validation complexity. 

This boundary-based approach allows organizations to make meaningful progress while preserving compliance and operational confidence. It shifts the conversation from “what can we change?” to “where can we change safely?” 

From “just add redundancy” to “assess the risk correctly”

Historically, pharmaceutical facilities were often over-designed as a form of insurance. Without advanced modeling or granular process data, the safest option was to add capacity, add redundancy, and oversize utilities “just in case.” 

That approach is giving way to a more disciplined, risk-based mindset. Improved automation, better process insight, and advanced modeling tools allow teams to align utility design with actual operational needs rather than worst-case assumptions. 

A process with a short recovery window may not justify the same level of redundancy as one where an interruption means scrapping a high-value batch. So what has to be quantified is:  

• Which processes truly justify redundancy? 

• Where is redundancy masking maintenance gaps? 

• Where is over-protection inflating both capital and operating costs? 

This shift from conservative excess to informed precision is one of the most meaningful efficiency gains happening in pharmaceutical facilities today, and one of the reasons is the advent of easier ways to process data.  

Digital tools and the acceleration of decision-making 

Digital twins and advanced simulation tools are increasingly used to evaluate processes, utilities, and facilities long before construction or upgrades begin. For organizations making large capital investments, these tools provide a way to test assumptions and surface constraints before they become expensive problems. 

By modeling equipment sizing, process flows, and utility demand upfront, teams can identify gaps that might otherwise appear during commissioning or startup. That clarity reduces rework, shortens schedules, and supports smoother validation. 

Importantly, the value of these tools extends beyond project delivery. When maintained as living models, digital twins enable ongoing scenario testing, operator training, and performance optimization, allowing teams to explore changes virtually rather than through trial and error in live production environments. 

In pharma, the return is not just accuracy. It is speed. Reducing decision latency by finding issues earlier, resolving them faster, and moving forward with confidence has become a critical advantage. 

Change control as a design consideration, not a barrier

Even the best efficiency ideas fail if they collide with compliance reality. Successful projects account for this upfront. Potential improvements are evaluated through structured energy analysis, cost-benefit assessment, and early stakeholder engagement. Change control is treated as part of the design process itself. 

This disciplined approach allows facilities to evolve without destabilizing the systems that protect product quality. Efficiency becomes repeatable, defensible, and aligned with long-term goals. Bringing CQV into the overall efficiency discussion early protects the planning so that there is no compliance crunch at the end.  

How Salas O’Brien can help

Salas O’Brien helps pharmaceutical manufacturers make clearer decisions about power and water—earlier, with a better understanding of risk. 

Our teams focus on where efficiency can be applied safely and where it cannot, evaluating utilities through the lens of process criticality, batch value, and lifecycle impact. 

We support clients by: 

• Applying a risk-based approach to utilities
  Differentiating where conservative design is required and where systems can be right-sized. 

• Using upstream modeling and simulation
  Testing assumptions early to reduce commissioning, validation, and startup risk. 

• Targeting efficiency outside GMP-critical boundaries
  Identifying power and water opportunities in distribution, storage, and load management with minimal compliance impact. 

• Aligning engineering, operations, and compliance
  Evaluating changes holistically before they enter formal change control. 

The objective is not to push efficiency, but to apply precision—reducing unnecessary excess while protecting reliability and product quality. Want to talk about your project? Reach out to one of our contributors below or contact [email protected].  

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