CASE STUDY
LA Unified School District
TYPE: Education
With 14,000 building structures under their domain, the LA Unified School District is always on the lookout for new energy-saving strategies. The district’s sustainability specialist had heard about Aeroseal duct sealing earlier, but it took time to evaluate the technology and to ensure it was safe and effective enough for its proposed use. It also required the right pilot project for initial evaluation.
That ideal pilot project came around when renovation work on one of its elementary school buildings revealed substantial leakage in a portion of the ductwork. To meet building code requirements, school engineers had a choice: duct replacement or Aeroseal.
Aeroseal really proved its value. The sealing was done without disrupting the classrooms and the overall impact on the school was nil. The biggest concern I heard from all those gathered to watch was that it may reduce the workload for several contractors. We have quite a bit of HVAC projects on the horizon and this new approach to duct sealing really changes the scope of that work if we don’t have to tear out old systems and pull out the old ductwork.
Adrian Tylim, Sustainability Specialist, LA Unified School District: “We witnessed several clear advantages to using Aeroseal over traditional methods. It lasts longer and requires minimal disruption to the existing building structure. Since the technology itself seeks out and seals the leaks, it’s a more comprehensive, more effective approach as well.”
The duct maintenance experts at Penn Air Group (PAG) had quite a crowd of observers witnessing the initial application of Aeroseal at the 93rd Street Elementary School building. M&O personnel, inspectors, and district engineers were all there asking questions, watching the process, and judging the outcome. After the initial setup, it took less than an hour for Penn Air to seal the supply and return ductwork serving the administrative offices. Everyone watched the computer screen with anticipation as the results of the sealing process was being monitored. A live graph showed the leakage rate decrease from 2,766 CFM to 207 CFM (92% reduction).
On the second day, the PAG crew completed the initial pilot project as they quickly sealed a third section of the building’s ductwork (the return duct leading to the kindergarten rooms). Unlike hand sealing, there is no demolition needed for Aeroseal, and overall labor costs for duct sealing are reduced when Aeroseal is used.
With the Aeroseal Certificate of Completion verifying the pre-seal and post-seal leakage , school engineers knew right away they had succeeded in meeting code requirements. They also quickly realized that Aeroseal duct sealing could reduce energy costs throughout the school district.
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