BSEE ENERGY MANAGEMENT


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uAs an integral part of most commercial buildings, ductwork can have a significant impact on long term costs if it is simply viewed as a product that can be bought and fitted with little thought for anything but cost.


Malcolm Moss, Managing Director of Doby Verrolec, emphasises the importance of specifying ductwork on the basis of quality not cost – even down to the gaskets and flanges.


uDuctwork is often regarded as a commodity and specified on a cost‐first basis. It pays to seek out quality products from a reputable supplier.


DUCTWORK AND ENERGY USE The path to building efficiency and IAQ


element of a building is very closely linked not only to building efficiency, but also to indoor air quality (IAQ).


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If we consider lighting in buildings, it’s an item of equipment that a few years ago was generally ‘fit- and-forget’, as long as it met the legal minimum standards. Now, many buildings have upgraded to LED lighting technology to save energy and are also using controls to make better use of daylighting to reduce costs even further. It’s this type of attitude change that we need to see for ductwork because, like lighting, it impacts not only on energy use but also on the indoor environment and occupant health. In fact, far from being a passive building element, good quality ductwork can save energy and money in the long term. What’s more, ductwork should be regarded as a system which includes the materials that ensure robust lifetime performance, such as flanges and gasket.


Reasons for reduction


Readers of this magazine are all too familiar with the reasons why building owners and managers are looking to cut energy use and carbon emissions. Minimum Energy Performance Standards, Part L of the Building Regulations and the Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme are all designed to usher in an era of greater energy efficiency.


The UK is locked in to a 50 per cent reduction on 1990 CO2 emissions levels by 2025, so we can safely assume there could be more regulation on energy in buildings on the horizon.


What’s more, energy prices are also set to rise steadily over the next decade, and the


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Far from being a passive building element, good quality ductwork can save energy and money in the long term. What’s more, ductwork should be regarded as a system which includes the materials that ensure robust lifetime performance, such as flanges and gasket.


’ 26 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER DECEMBER 2016


uctwork is not the first item on the list for building owners and managers who are looking for energy savings in their buildings. It’s probably not even in the top five. Yet, this overlooked


introduction of compulsory smart metering for non- dwellings are factors adding to the pressure on building managers. Combing buildings for energy savings, wherever they might be, is therefore an increasingly important process. Ductwork is an untapped area for ensuring a building’s operating costs (not just energy, but also maintenance) are kept to a sensible level.


Quality first


If there was one word to sum up what building owners and specifiers of projects should think when they consider ductwork, it’s ‘quality’. Far too often ductwork is regarded as a commodity and specified on a cost-first basis. Frankly, this is a huge mistake that building owners will pay for over the years.


One significant example is the gasket – simple foam tape that is used to seal the joins in ductwork. It’s possible to cut costs by using a cheap substitute and some unbranded gasket can be around 30 per cent cheaper than a manufacturer’s own brand. This 30 per cent quite often only represents as little as a few hundred pounds when the product is installed, yet it will have a major impact on the long term performance of the ductwork. In fact, those few hundred pounds that were saved at the start of the job can quickly mount to a spending of thousands in rectifying ductwork leakage problems over the lifetime of the building. Poor quality ductwork is wasting energy in buildings all over the country.


Leakage, corrosion and poor maintenance, caused by bad design, cost building owners money and raise energy costs for businesses. If it is of poor quality of manufacture, ductwork will have to be replaced sooner, which can result in a lot of unnecessary business disruption. Inferior ductwork can also have a very negative impact on indoor air quality, leading to occupant health issues.


Quality of installation and maintenance are also significant factors to bear in mind when arranging these contracts. Mitigating against the risk of air leakage is a task made far easier if the quality of both the product and the installation are prioritised over price at the specification stage. Using a reputable installer is as important as selecting a good quality product to avoid long term problems. Reputable manufacturers and installers will be concerned with details such as flange systems which use non-toxic sealant during manufacture to ensure airtightness. This is essential to ensure that fan systems are not overworking as this can be a major drain on energy.


The thickness of galvanised coating used on ductwork is another important aspect of this product that will only be carefully considered by reputable manufacturers. This seemingly small detail can have a major impact on lifetime performance of the ductwork system, and can lead to the need for early replacement if it is not up to standard.


In addition, low prices are often a signal of low quality in the overall manufacturing and installation process. Lighter gauge steel, incorrect gasket between joints, improper joint spacings and inadequate stiffening or supports can all contribute towards the poor performance of ventilation systems.


Know your legislation


Ductwork is a technology that requires experience not only in manufacturing, but also in dealing with the challenges that can crop up on-site during installation. There is also a host of legislation and guidance on ductwork that impacts on specifiers, contractors, and building owners during the life cycle of the product. If clients find themselves working with organisations that do not meet high standards in these areas, the risk can quickly travel down the contract chain, with performance problems having to be put right along the way. The main legislation to look out for is DW144 2013 which is currently being updated. There are, however, a number of other documents such as the Guide to Ductwork Cleaning & Access which has been published by ADCAS and is free to download from their website. This clarifies a number of pieces of legislation, and offers some useful advice on how to ensure the responsibility for ductwork cleaning access, for example, is established at the start of a project. A good installer will take care to ensure that issues such as this are clarified so that the installation process is smooth and timely.


Ductwork may not be the first waypoint on the journey to more energy efficient buildings, but as an integral part of most commercial buildings, it can have a significant impact on long-term costs if it is simply viewed as a product that can be bought and fitted with little thought for anything but cost. So in the same way that careful car owners are prepared to pay for genuine parts for servicing because they want a quality solution that will result in better performance, building owners need to regard ductwork, including elements such as flanges and gasket, as a system for which price is a secondary consideration to quality.


www.dobyverrolec.com VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.bsee.co.uk


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