CASE STUDY
Cornette Library
TYPE: Education
Ameresco, a leading energy service company (ESCO), always recognized the potential savings that duct sealing represents. For ESCOS, where guaranteed savings is part of their business model, measuring and verifying results is difficult to do with manual duct sealing.
Ameresco was intrigued when it learned about Aeroseal’s duct sealing technology. The ESCO began identifying a project where the innovative technology could be put to the test.
“Aeroseal is a complete turnkey process. It does the pre-measurement, the sealing, and then the post measurement. That’s one thing that is perfect for performance contracting. This solution elevates duct sealing as a primary strategy for our business.”
Marco Soto
Senior Project Development Engineer
Ameresco
Duct leakage was not a measure we looked at in the past. We have a guarantee component of our business model and until now, verification has been a problem and the benefits of duct sealing were difficult to prove. Aeroseal technology changes all that. We now have another measure we can put into our projects that will save substantial energy for our clients.
That opportunity arose when A&M University approved a system-wide performance contracting project. The project’s goals were to:
- save energy,
- reduce its environmental impact,
- reduce its overall operating costs.
Ameresco began evaluating buildings on the University’s West Texas A&M campus, with duct sealing in mind working with Aeroseal, LLC to identify buildings most likely to benefit from its duct sealing process. After a visual inspection, the two teams decided on the University’s Cornette Library as one of two initial targets for sealing. The Aeroseal team evaluated the horsepower, airflow, and other factors of the library’s five HVAC systems to generate an estimated energy savings and ROI. In the end, three of the library’s five systems were earmarked for sealing.
Aeroseal and Ameresco worked with the University to develop plans and coordinate work. The actual sealing was performed over a period of three nights when the library was closed. Prep work included inserting foam plugs into the ductwork to protect VAV equipment and block the sealant from escaping through vents. Tubing was then used to connect the sealing equipment to the duct system. The computer-controlled sealing system measured pre-sealing leakage rates. Sealant was then blown into the inside of the ductwork and, under pressure, driven to all the various leaks. At the end of the process, the Aeroseal equipment took post sealing measurements.
Aeroseal reduced leakage on the project by 98%, this is an annual energy savings of about $30,000. This helped Ameresco reach its project goals.
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