{"id":2284,"date":"2022-12-16T12:39:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T12:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/2022\/12\/16\/4-179\/"},"modified":"2022-12-16T12:39:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T12:39:25","slug":"4-179","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/4-179\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovative Commercial Building Materials To Reduce HVAC Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Department of Energy says that cooling, heating, and ventilation account for\u00a0approximately 40%<\/a>\u00a0of a commercial building\u2019s energy costs. So, it\u2019s no surprise that building owners want to decrease their HVAC costs.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, reducing HVAC costs is no easy feat. It requires a focused approach that starts with a building\u2019s design. If HVAC efficiency isn\u2019t addressed in the design phases, building owners will be spinning their wheels with very little luck.<\/p>\n

How do you design and construct a building to reduce HVAC costs? Ultimately, it all boils down to increasing energy efficiency and controlling airflow. Thankfully, there are numerous innovative building materials and techniques that make low HVAC costs a possibility.<\/p>\n

Here are a few examples of those materials and techniques.<\/p>\n

Polyiso Insulation\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Proper insulation is one of the most important materials to increase the overall energy efficiency of a structure. It\u2019s the building\u2019s best defense at maintaining its internal temperature. Without proper insulation, the HVAC system has to work in overdrive to keep the building at a comfortable temperature. Despite its importance, many people opt for lower quality insulation to help reduce costs.<\/p>\n

Polyiso insulation<\/a> is one of the highest quality insulation options on the market. It\u2019s foam board insulation, so many people shrug it off at face value. However, it has the highest R-value per inch of any other insulation type. It\u2019s also cost-effective, durable, and environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n

Dampers\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In standard HVAC systems, all the air blows throughout all the ducts with the same force at the same time. This operation doesn\u2019t make sense in commercial buildings. There\u2019s no reason to keep a rarely visited storage room at the same temperature as the main lobby.<\/p>\n

This is why\u00a0HVAC zoning<\/a>\u00a0systems are essential. HVAC zoning allows you to reroute and control the airflow using something called dampers. Dampers are installed into the ducts to reroute the flow to go a direction that makes sense.<\/p>\n

In other words, you can create a zoning system using dampers to redirect air from the storage room to the main lobby. HVAC zoning significantly reduces the demands for the HVAC system, thus reducing monthly costs.<\/p>\n

Architectural Grilles\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Another component of HVAC costs deals with air pollution and filtering. If the building is in a high pollution area, it could be subject to the flow of toxic fumes. These fumes bog down the air filters, hang up and dirty ventilation pathways, and ultimately reduce the efficiency of the HVAC system as a whole.<\/p>\n

One of the most aesthetically pleasing ways to decrease pollution and increase ventilation is with\u00a0architectural grilles<\/a>. These grilles look appealing, but they also aid in ventilation and controlling outside airflow.<\/p>\n

Partitions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once you have HVAC zoning and dampers in place, the flow of air will be pretty well mapped out. However, there\u2019s still more that you can do in the high-consumption rooms. Open-concept designs are prevalent in today\u2019s buildings. While these might inspire creativity and collaboration, they can also eat into HVAC costs.<\/p>\n

However, you can utilize movable partitions and\u00a0glass office walls<\/a>\u00a0to control the airflow of these larger spaces. By creating the option to close off these more spacious designs, you\u2019re presenting an option for further HVAC optimization in the future.<\/p>\n

Double Duct Sealing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Duct leakage is one of the principal reasons for HVAC waste. It\u2019s challenging to detect a duct leak without a thorough investigation. So, it\u2019s vital to begin the design with solid ductwork.<\/p>\n

A newer technique involves sealing the duct with foil tape, mastic, or blown-in duct sealant, and then wrapping the duct in insulation. Wrapping the duct in insulation after sealing it provides an added layer of duct protection.<\/p>\n

Reduce HVAC Costs with The Building\u2019s Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n

These are just some examples of innovative materials and techniques for decreasing HVAC costs. There are numerous other things you\u2019ll want to consider in the building\u2019s design.<\/p>\n

Since energy efficiency is the goal, be sure to \u201cthink green\u201d with the building\u2019s design and layout. Allow plenty of natural sunlight. Utilize trees to shade the building. Abide by existing standards and incorporate Energy Star rated windows.<\/p>\n

Remember that it\u2019s also crucial to have a\u00a0high-quality HVAC system<\/a> from the beginning. Additionally, talk with your clients about programmable thermostats, solar panels, and other smart tech to help cut back on energy costs long term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Department of Energy says that cooling, heating, and ventilation account for\u00a0approximately 40%\u00a0of a commercial building\u2019s energy costs. So, it\u2019s no surprise that building owners want to decrease their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-constructioncommercial-construction","category-hvac"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/65.21.7.236\/s3da-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}