Posted by Stuart Heisey on Wednesday, July 30, 2025
When it comes to humidity control in industrial facilities, missing the mark can carry greater consequences than in most other building types. While any occupied space can garner comfort complaints and unaddressed humidity issues can lead to moisture damage, mold, and occupant health issues; a segment of industrial environments face additional risks of improper humidity levels triggering costly product recalls, compromising critical test data, or resulting in regulatory violations.
Testing laboratories, clean rooms, and specialty production or storage areas demand humidity maintained within tight tolerances, sometimes as narrow as +/- 2% RH, alongside equally precise temperature control. This precision becomes even more challenging due to adjacent uncontrolled areas with heat and moisture-generating equipment. The reality many facility managers discover: while standard split-system units and conventional HVAC equipment typically handle temperature needs adequately, they frequently fall short on humidity control, causing even experienced mechanical technicians to struggle with adequate humidity control. Traditional troubleshooting approaches and equipment modifications effective for comfort applications prove inadequate for industrial precision demands.
Industrial Humidity Control Strategies:
Achieving precise humidity control in these specialized industrial settings requires a multi-faceted approach, employing strategies for precision, reliability, and compliance.
1. Start with Data Logging and Make it Count
Consider continuous monitoring systems that can track multiple zones simultaneously and provide real-time alerts when conditions drift outside acceptable ranges. For facilities with regulatory requirements, these systems should integrate with your quality management systems to automatically log environmental conditions with production data.
Cost: Higher upfront investment than basic data loggers but essential for facilities with strict requirements.
2. Building Envelope Integrity: The Foundation of Control
Large facilities with high ceilings, multiple entry points, varying internal loads, and critical interior spaces with little to no insulation or infiltration provisions require systematic envelope assessment. Focus on elements like:
- Loading dock seals and weather stripping
- High-bay door systems and their impact on internal conditions
- Wall and roof penetrations for utilities and equipment
- Air barrier continuity in areas with strict environmental requirements
- Air pressurization control
Cost: Moderate to high cost but foundational for all other humidity control measures.
3. Industrial-Grade HVAC Solutions
Consider these industrial-grade solutions:
- Dedicated Outside Air Systems (DOAS) can condition ventilation air separately from space conditioning.
- Custom air handling units are designed specifically for your process requirements.
- Redundant systems support critical areas that cannot tolerate environmental excursions.
Cost: Higher than standard commercial systems, but necessary for facilities with precision requirements.
4. Process-Specific Humidity Control
Industrial facilities may need different humidity control strategies for different areas:
- Testing Laboratories may require year-round humidification to maintain precise conditions regardless of outdoor climate.
- Manufacturing Areas might need dehumidification during production periods and different conditions during off-shifts.
- Storage Areas could require seasonal humidity control to prevent damage to stored materials.
- Clean Rooms need both precise control and redundancy to maintain classification standards.
5. Advanced Control Strategies
Beyond simple on/off control solutions, advanced control strategies offer the precision and reliability necessary for the most demanding industrial environments.
- Staged or Series Dehumidification/Humidification:
- Staged employs multiple units that stage on and off to maintain tight control without overshooting setpoints.
- Series provides constant humidification at a minimum level and trims to the setpoint with a dehumidification protocol. This enables components to operate near steady state.
- Desiccant Systems are useful for applications requiring very low humidity levels or where traditional cooling-based dehumidification isn't effective.
- Heat Recovery Systems capture waste heat to support humidification systems, improving energy efficiency and retaining much of the desired moisture content of exhausted air.
- Integrated Building Management Systems coordinate humidity control with other building systems and production schedules.
In industrial applications, "close" might not be close enough. Precision humidity control is an investment in product quality, regulatory compliance, and certification maintenance. The upfront cost is typically higher but the cost of operating outside of tolerances can far exceed the investment in proper environmental control systems.
Our work with DS Smith to address humidity control at their testing laboratory exemplifies this approach. Rather than trying to band-aid an inadequate system, they invested in a comprehensive solution that included custom HVAC equipment, building envelope improvements, and sophisticated controls.
4 Steps to Getting Started
When your business depends on maintaining specific humidification conditions, here are four steps you can take to make sure your systems are up to the task:
- Document your requirements: What are the actual standards you need to meet for certification, compliance, or production?
- Assess your current systems: Are they designed for precision control or just general comfort?
- Consider the total cost: What does non-compliance or poor-quality cost your operation?
- Engage specialized expertise: Industrial humidity control sometimes requires custom solutions that many HVAC contractors may not be equipped to handle.
Need help evaluating humidity control requirements for your industrial facility? I’d love to talk with you to discuss precision environmental control solutions tailored to your specific applications.
Categories: Industrial & Manufacturing
Tagged: Mechanical | Building Humidity