Ellume Building A

In May 2021, Australia-based digital diagnostics company Ellume, announced it had established its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland.

Ellume was awarded 231.8 million in an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense and the department of Health and Human Services, to accelerate the production of Ellume’s COVID-19 Home Test Kits.

The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test was the first rapid COVID-19 self-test to be granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for both asymptomatic and symptomatic use without a prescription.

In June 2021, while functioning as a sub-contractor to Warner Mechanical, Kaempf and Harris were awarded a contract to install all of the duct work for the facility.

Coordinated drawings were required almost immediately and coordinators for all trades had to work in unison due to the aggressive schedule. The coordination of areas were completed just days before the tradesmen were required to be installing services in the various areas of the building.

The tradesmen worked tirelessly, 6 days a week, and utilized scissor lifts to install all of the required hangers at heights in excess of 30 feet. Kaempf and Harris installed an excess of 175,000 pounds of galvanized duct work, as well as an additional 6,500 pounds of solid welded stainless-steel duct. Over one and a half miles of flexible duct were also installed.

Kaempf and Harris installed supply and return and outside air duct to eleven Air Handler Units, exhaust duct to twenty-five fans and gravity ventilators, installed 475 registers, grilles, diffusers, and HEPA filter modules. The required flue material off of three boilers and eight humidifiers were installed as well.

All of this was accomplished during unprecedented supply chain issues in an urgent and timely manner. Time was of the essence to get the at-home test kits available to the public while the pandemic raged on.

In a period of only ten months, this extraordinary effort was completed, and the facility officially opened.

With the facility now fully operational, it is producing 19 million COVID-19 Test Kits per month; potentially saving countless lives around the world and bringing peace of mind to consumers.

Kaempf and Harris feel extremely honored to have been selected to participate in the construction of such a groundbreaking and potentially lifesaving endeavor.