Duct Sealing: Helping Facilities Stay Clean & Green
The importance of building readiness in returning to work continues to increase with COVID-19 cases surging in recent weeks. Before COVID-19, facility managers’ primary focus was on saving energy. Now, the focus has shifted to the cleanliness of a building’s air and its surfaces. This shift can lead to solutions that will increase costs and waste energy — however, both can be achieved through Aeroseal’s duct sealing services.
Aeroseal’s webinar, “Duct Sealing: 3 Ways this ECM Can Help Your Facility Be Clean & Green” sheds light on how this energy conservation measure can make saving energy and improving IAQ complementary goals. Aeroseal’s Commercial Director, April Frakes, and Commercial Account Executive, Art Wagner, detailed how duct sealing can achieve these seemingly competitive goals.
Leaky Ducts Ruin the Air We Breathe
Leaks cause poor ventilation and allow contaminants to infiltrate ductwork and circulate throughout the building. In addition to decreasing IAQ, this creates indoor comfort problems and increases energy costs.
Common signs of poor ventilation in commercial buildings include:
- Persistent mold and mildew
- Chronic odor issues
- Higher worker illness and absenteeism rates
- Noisy exhaust fans
- Uncomfortable, uneven temperatures
- Higher than normal energy bills
Facility managers often try to address these issues with a mix of filtration, UV lights, and duct cleaning. But without eliminating the leaks, they are simply addressing the symptom and not the cause of these issues.
Several Facilities Reducing Environmental Impact with Duct Sealing
Aeroseal’s duct sealing technology has been in the field for 20 years with more than 150,000 projects sealed. It has been applied to a variety of building types, from homes to commercial buildings, including hotels, hospitals, office buildings, military bases, universities, prisons, and government facilities.
Government Office – Washington DC
The primary issue of this facility was anemic airflow, only 50% reaching endpoints. Aeroseal allowed for an 83 percent reduction and improved the overall comfort in the nearly one million square foot building.
Clinton Prairie School District – Frankfort IN
With over 19,000 CFM of leakage, energy savings was a clear issue. After Aeroseal’s application, leakage reduced to under 800 CFM. There was a 96 percent reduction in leakage, exceeding the performance goal. The school then became qualified for custom energy rebates.
Federal Bureau of Prisons Facility – San Diego, CA
This facility needed to meet strict energy efficiency and system performance requirements. With Aeroseal, an 89 percent leakage reduction was achieved as well as $140,000 in annual energy savings.