Airthings in the classroom, East Porter schools improve indoor air quality while reducing energy costs

Posted on by Ductmate Industries

How did four schools in Indiana use Airthings for Business to reduce CO2 levels, improve student satisfaction and the health and wellbeing of their students, staff and colleagues? Not to mention $23,250 in Energy Savings. Read our case study to find out!

“Airthings for Business have been a great tool for helping us to maintain and enhance the air quality in our buildings.” – Craig Kenworthy, Facilities Director

Background

The East Porter County School Corporation, located in Northwest Indiana, serves schools in Kouts, Morgan Township, and Washington Township.

Challenge

Highly rated public school district East Porter consists of 2,488 students in grades K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 15 to 11.  Their focus on high quality education has always been their number one priority, so naturally they sought to better understand their indoor air quality data and how it was impacting:

  • Faculty and student performance and health
  • Energy costs 
  • Equipment functioning 

Covid-19 further reinforced their urgency. Ascertaining which indoor air factors are of concern and could potentially be contributing to airborne virus transmission was now a must. They needed the data so that they could address any issues in order to make staff, students and parents confident in reopening schools for in-person learning.

Solution

By installing the Airthings for Business solution, East Porter was able to monitor a full range of indoor air quality measures that helped them identify faulty positioning on several dampers that were causing elevated CO2 levels.

Initially, they made manual adjustments and once improvements were verified, they applied logic to automate the positioning adjustments saving several hours of manual work per day.

With the combination of CO2, humidity, temperature, and occupancy sensors in the Airthings devices, East Porter was able to identify areas to better improve their indoor air quality prior to the pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, East Porter was equipped with data to help evaluate where vulnerabilities existed. This enabled them to take action to reduce possible airborne transmission through the insight provided by Airthings new Virus Risk Indicator.

Results: healthier air & energy savings2 

  • Reduced CO2 levels by 165 ppm
  • $23,250 in Energy Savings realized by Morgan schools with the assistance of Airthings for business solution
  • 210 hours/year reduction in manual work eliminated by automating morning startup logic

Get Started With Airthings

Sources:
1. niche.com/k12/d/east-porter-county-school-corporation-in/
2. Results collected from the anonymized Airthings data with their permission in 2020-2021.

Airthings helps facility managers at Life Chiropractic College transform their indoor air quality

Posted on by Ductmate Industries

The Challenge

Life Chiropractic College West is a private college that specializes in teaching a ‘Doctor of Chiropractic’ degree program in Haywood, California. Over 600 students study at its campus, which spans 12 acres and includes a building covering 200,000 square feet.

“Part of being a chiropractic college is having a lifestyle centered on health and wellness.” – Michael Baldwin, Director of Facilities and Auxiliary Services

With that ethos in mind, staff were especially concerned when suspected indoor air quality issues began to emerge.

For Dr Kerri Duggins-Rames, head of the college’s Air Quality Committee, ‘brain fog’ among the building’s users indicated that high levels of carbon dioxide could be a problem. “It started with symptoms,” she explains. “Symptoms I observed in myself and started to observe and overhear in my students.”

Long-term exposure to CO2 can result in reduced productivity, poor decision-making, and increased drowsiness and lethargy, so it is a major red flag in a teaching environment1. Indeed, research suggests that test scores rise and absence rates fall when indoor air quality issues are tackled2. It’s clear that indoor air quality and learning are linked.

Michael Baldwin confirms: “Recent studies have shown that when carbon dioxide levels exceed 800 parts per million on a regular basis it can impair your cognitive function.”

Staff and students at the Life Chiropractic College were concerned about indoor air quality issues and worried that their ability to function effectively was compromised as a result. But, they didn’t yet have functional data to prove what the problems were or understand what had to be done.

Finding a source for that information would be key to putting things right.

The Solution

Life’s director of facilities, Michael Baldwin, was looking for a way to address the college’s air quality concerns when he came across the Airthings for Business at a trade fair for facility managers.

The Airthings solution links indoor air quality monitors to a hub that collects relevant data in real-time. This data is accessible through the Airthings dashboard, ensuring that both current and historical information is available at the touch of a button. The interface provides an overview of all rooms, floors, and locations in a facility, with automated alerts to let users know if conditions change or deteriorate.

After the system had been installed, it gave staff an invaluable source of data that highlighted problems in particular rooms on campus. The system provides actionable insights on indoor air quality for facility managers. As well as its affordability, Michael Baldwin emphasizes the solution’s functionality and user-friendliness, saying, “The product is very easy to use and you can get great function out of it.”

The college exploited detailed information on CO2 levels and occupancy to adjust which classes went to which rooms at particular times. This meant avoiding high CO2 levels and making optimal use of spaces according to their air quality.

Carbon dioxide data can also be a powerful tool for understanding the way a building is used. It reveals when locations are busy, providing insights into how resources like heat, lighting, HVAC, or even cleaning services can be used more efficiently and effectively.

According to Michael Baldwin, indoor air quality monitoring “also helps us justify upgrading equipment and the budgetary aspects of that.” Indoor air quality data highlights exactly where there are problems so that the right maintenance can take place right away.

The Results

After Life Chiropractic College West installed the Airthings for Business air quality sensors and the air quality data began to flow, the insights led to a transformation on campus.

Sagi Hebron, a student and member of Life’s Green Team, explains that the equipment highlighted problems with airflow in the building: “We got new HVAC units, which is a big deal. And using the Airthings monitors we can see the differences in the air quality.”

Data on carbon dioxide also allowed the college to change how it uses its spaces. Armed with a more detailed understanding of building occupancy, Life West was able to tweak its timetables to improve learning conditions for students.

According to Dr Kerri Duggans-Rames, the equipment makes a real difference to academic outcomes at the college. She emphasizes the importance of indoor air quality in education:

“Airthings for Business can help us maximize student performance, absolutely. Cognitive function can be affected. I’m talking about graduate students in an incredibly difficult graduate program. Every moment, every milestone, and every exam they need to be on point.

“Airthings for Business has been very easy to work with,” facilities director Michael Baldwin added. “It’s the ideal solution”.

Sagi Hebron advises businesses, schools, and other institutions to “Try to figure out what the problem is in the building that’s causing it not to be a healthy building. Make the decision to get the Airthings monitors because, from what I understand, they are the best monitors for air quality that you can have.”

Key Takeaways

  • Life Chiropractic College teaches healthcare courses and places a lifestyle of “health and wellness” at the center of campus life
  • Staff and students suspected the college might have air quality issues, after experiencing symptoms like ‘brain fog’
  • The Airthings for Business gave facility managers and other staff access to data that revealed air quality issues on campus
  • The college used the data to address ‘airflow’ problems with a new HVAC system and a change in the way classes were timetabled
  • indoor air quality monitoring helped the college maximize student performance for an affordable price, and staff found the product easy to use
  • The college recommends other institutions use Airthings monitors to make their buildings healthier

Get Started With Airthings

Sources
1. https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(54)00063-2/fulltext#section.0070
2. https://www.aivc.org/sites/default/files/155_0.pdf

Spiralmate® Round Ductwork System Is Working Well in South Dakota

Spiralmate Round Duct Connector

Posted on by Ductmate Industries

The Prairie Lakes Wellness Center in Watertown, S.D., a modern community center conveniently located in the fastest growing area of Watertown, opened in April 2017 and has 104,000 square feet of space. The $24 million multi-level facility features multiple basketball courts, racquetball courts, a running track, a sauna and whirlpool, a large fitness area, and a state of the art pool area that includes a leisure pool as well as a competition pool.

Choosing the Right System for Aesthetics and Performance

For areas that are not exposed, rectangular, medium-pressure ductwork was chosen. For exposed areas, the Spiralmate® Round Duct Connection System was used. All the spiral connections were manufactured by Ductmate Industries.

Gary Chappell, Ductmate Regional Channel Manager, said the spiral ductwork is exposed and visible from multiple perspectives. On the second floor, where the ceiling for downstairs is positioned at eye level, it was even more important to have an attractive product. Chappel said, “The project is aesthetically pleasing both close up and from a distance. From a performance standpoint, the system is airtight, efficient and doesn’t require any additional sealing.”

Jon Burri, Vice President at Creative Metal Solutions, the specifier and fabricator for this project, said everything went very smoothly on the job site. “We made custom lengths in the shop and delivered them to the jobsite, ranging in size from as large as 42” in diameter to as small as 10” in diameter. Large amounts of 28-32” ductwork were installed above the track, and 18-20” inch segments were installed in the workout areas.”

The ductwork in the pool area was double-walled aluminum to reduce the sound of the airflow from spectators and to prevent corrosion from the harsh pool environment. Galvanized steel was used on all the ductwork in other areas.

MacArthur Co. was the distributor for this project. According to Chappell, “They have been a great asset and long-standing Ductmate distributor in Sioux Falls.”

Burri said a couple of trailers of product a week were sent to the jobsite on and off for about six months. “We delivered in phases so that a lot of room wasn’t needed to store product during the entire job,” he said.

The company always recommends the Spiralmate® system because, Burri said, “The cost is always justified with savings in field installation time and cost, and it allows for an air-tight system that looks great.”

Faster Installation, Big Labor Savings
Active Heating, Inc., based in Watertown, S.D., was the HVAC contractor. Jason Roehrich, Vice President at the company, said the installation of the Spiralmate® system is usually fast, but this project went even faster than normal.

“The finished job features a wide-open, exposed look with neat, straight long runs,” he said. “In one area, we had a run of 100-150 feet with a 90-degree turn into another long run of about 300 feet, and it looks great.”

Roehrich added, “Our installers in the field really like the Spiralmate® system because it quickly snaps in place, provides a great seal, installs faster than other products, and it provides a straight, clean look when it’s finished.”

Another advantage of the system is that when a piece of ductwork is cut down in size, the flange can be removed and re-used—unlike with other systems. This saves even more time and money.

The end result was a successful project for Ductmate and everyone else involved. The state-of-the-art Prairie Lakes Wellness Center has an HVAC system to match that’s pleasing to the eye, energy efficient and will perform well for many years to come.

PROseal Spray Duct Sealant Shortens Application Time By 50%

Sprayable HVAC duct sealant - PROseal Spray

Posted on by Ductmate Industries

Studies and testing have demonstrated that heating and cooling systems can lose up to 30% of their efficiency due to leaks in the duct joints and seams. One solution is to seal the ductwork at the joints with gasket material supplied by the manufacturer. Another is the application of duct sealant that can be applied at the joints as well as duct seams for a tight connection.

New standards in the building industry now require all ducting to be sealed to prevent air leakage. Not only does it save energy, low leakage reduces the load on the heating and cooling equipment.

Scott Schindler, owner of Schindler Heating & A/C, Inc., runs his business in Boonville, IN. For over 15 years he has installed and serviced air conditioning and heating equipment in southern Indiana.

Schindler has four employees and works primarily on residential and light commercial housing. As a businessman, he believes every job he does gets 110% of his efforts—a main reason he is the HVAC installer choice for many of the largest builders in his area.

Schindler has used Ductmate’s PROseal mastic for many years. Like most duct sealants, it is applied manually and can take an entire day to finish one house. The results were always good, but if you are not careful you can wear as much as you apply.

While picking up materials at Wilhite Supply Co, his local Ductmate distributor, Schindler was introduced to PROseal Spray, Ductmate’s premium water-based, high velocity duct sealant that can be applied using a wide range of sealant application equipment. It was love at first sight!

“I’m somewhat of a tool nut and am interested in anything mechanical,” said Schindler. “The fact that you can apply duct sealant using a spray system really intrigued me; five minutes later I was a believer.”

Schindler had investigated other brands of spray mastics as well but found one major problem. Most sealant manufacturers strongly recommended using their spray system. These systems cost on average $7,500 a unit, a greater investment than he wanted to make.

“We found out that Ductmate’s PROseal Spray can be used with a variety of spray systems with no problems in application or performance,” said Schindler. “In the end I purchased a sprayer for $1,700, and that was even for a slightly better unit than I needed.”

Christian Nauman, Sealants & Adhesives Product Line Manager for Ductmate, says ProSeal® Spray offers contractors benefits other than speed of application. “Ductmate formulated ProSeal® Spray as an extension of our manually-applied ProSeal® product,” said Nauman. “Both are designed to seal metal and metal joints against air leaks in low, medium, and high pressure duct systems up to 15” w.g.”

ProSeal® is a premium water-based high-velocity duct sealant that is non-flammable with a low odor and low VOC off-gassing. This is important for contractors working in tight spaces for prolonged periods of time.

ProSeal® Spray has excellent adhesion to all types of metals, and will not drip or sag under normal application conditions. The sealant has a very low shrinkage rate and remains permanently flexible over the life of the product. It is also UV, water and mildew resistant, and can be used on painted latex or epoxy finishes.

Upon using the PROseal Spray for the first time Schindler said he was a little apprehensive it would work as promised because of the viscosity of mastic. It didn’t take long to convince him otherwise.

“Our sprayer has a 150 foot hose allowing us to reach most of the house without moving the unit,” Schindler remarked. “We can finish an entire house in 30 minutes compared to an entire day using manual application.”

Many of the builders Schindler works with construct Energy Star homes. These buildings have to pass strict requirements minimizing air leakage for the building as well as the HVAC ducting. Schindler sprays all seams and joints with PROseal Spray with great success.

Schindler says his duct installations always pass with ease, and the inspector says his work is the best he has ever seen.

Once finished, the spray unit must be cleaned before the mastic hardens. Schindler says all that is needed are a few gallons of hot water that he runs through the sprayer until it runs clear. Since PROseal Spray is water-based, no harsh cleaners are required.

In addition to duct sealing, Schindler has found another use for the product. With PROseal Spray’s excellent adhesive qualities, he uses it to seal holes and cracks in the building that he may come across in places like crawl spaces.

New Polyester Duct Liner Less Expensive, Reduces Installation Time

PolyArmor™ Duct Liner

Posted on by Ductmate Industries

Schreiber Foods is constructing a new corporate headquarters and global technology center in downtown Green Bay, WI. Founded in Green Bay in 1945, it lays claim to be the world’s largest employee-owned dairy company. The $50 million headquarters building is 235,000 sq. ft. and reaches five stories high with a fit-out of primarily office space. When completed, it will employ approximately 550 people in the greater Green Bay area.

The firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA Inc.) is an integrated architecture, engineering and planning company responsible for the HVAC system design along with other mechanical systems on the Schreiber Foods Project. Kevin Pope, Senior Mechanical Engineer and Vice President at HGA, is the Engineer of Record on the project.

“For most ducting projects of this type, we typically specify a polyimide foam liner for the supply ducting and a fiberglass liner for the return,” said Pope. “The reason for this is any fibers coming off the fiberglass liner are captured in the air handling filtration system before it reenters the supply air. It’s also a way to keep cost down since fiberglass is less expensive and offers reasonable sound attenuation.”

The polyimide foam is generally coated with an acrylic-type polymer when used for duct liner. The coating provides a protective barrier against dust and moisture from collecting in the duct. However, one of the drawbacks to the polyimide foam can be more expensive than other materials.

J. F. Ahern Co. is the mechanical contractor for the project and responsible for the sheet metal and other mechanical systems. Shaun Neubauer, Project Manager for J.F. Ahern, has as one of his primary functions – the need to control project costs.

“It’s part of my job to control project costs so I begin immediately looking for alternative material choices,” said Neubauer. “We noticed immediately that the polyimide foam cost was coming in rather high and we began investigating alternative duct liner material. We had an opportunity to meet with Ductmate Industries to compare their new PolyArmor polyester-based liner material.”

PolyArmor is new to the market, having been out only one and one-half years. It is a polyester duct liner used in forced air heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. It is engineered to provide industry leading R-values with excellent noise reduction values and superior indoor air quality.

The polyester material is webbed into a thermal blanket which is then bonded with an FSK facing to resist damage during system installation and operation. It also provides excellent durability in the airstream.

Neubauer said the PolyArmor met the specification requirements and he was nicely surprised with the cost estimate. Since the polyimide was specified, he submitted the PolyArmor cost saving and specifications to Pope and requested a substitution, which was approved.

J. F. Ahern and Neubauer have a long history working with Ductmate Industries. Quite often they specify other Ductmate products like access doors, connectors and vane systems. Their relationship was a key factor in their decision to install the new PolyArmor liner material.

More emphasis was placed on noise reduction than insulation values although both were important. The PolyArmor proved excellent for sound attenuation with a .65 NRC rating while also delivering a R5 insulation value in one-inch material thickness.

Duct sizes vary, having dimensions up to 6’ by 3’ and handling an air flow of up to 80,000 CFM. The specifications called for the PolyArmor installed approximately 20’ downstream from each VAV discharge connections.

Chris Elwing, Shop Manager for J.F. Ahern, was impressed with the installation performance of PolyArmor. With over 31 years working the sheet metal industry, 13 of those with J.F. Ahern, he’s seen his share of duct insulation.

“We install all duct liners at the shop and have had to use elastomeric-type product for many of our installations,” said Elwing. “Elastomeric material is tough to work with because it’s hard to cut and shape into place.”

“We had never used the PolyArmor liner before and discovered that it installs much faster and is easy to pin; It greatly reduced our man hours on the project.” Elwing estimated they installed 25,000 sq. ft. of the liner material, all installed by hand using no coil machine. Even with the additional labor time required, he cut his installation time by 30% or more!

The PolyArmor liner is installed to the duct surface using water-based adhesives. This eliminates the need for solvent-based bonding agents that emit VOC’s for many years after installation. The polyester base material does not promote or support the growth of mold or mildew making it very desirable for a healthy environment and occupant safety.

The net result was even better than expected.

Neubauer commented, “Not only did we reduce costs for the liner material, we saved another 30% on installation time, which is significant.”

Both companies agree they will use the PolyArmor on future projects.

High Ceiling Project Makes Spiralmate A Must

Spiralmate Round Duct Connector

Posted on by Ductmate Industries

The North Shore Marine Transfer Station is located in College Point near New York City and LaGuardia Airport. It is expected to open in the spring of 2013 and will haul about 3,000 tons of garbage from Queens borough by barge to landfills each day.

The facility is enclosed to limit bird attraction, which can be very detrimental to airplane traffic at nearby LaGuardia Airport. It was birds after all that were sucked into both engines of Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s airplane causing him to ditch in the East River. The North Shore transfer station is only 735 yards from one of LaGuardia’s runways.

The spiral duct manufacturer on the projects is Southern Tier Custom Fabrication located in Elmira, NY. Sothern Tier has been a loyal user of Ductmate® products for many years, especially the Spiralmate® spiral duct connector.

Ian Morrell, Vice President of Southern Tier is very proud of their relationship with Ductmate. “We really believe in Ductmate’s innovative approach especially with products like the Spiralmate,” said Morrell. “They are easy to install and are real time savers in the shop and in the field.” Morrell said the company has enjoyed incorporating the Ductmate line into their fabrication process for about 30 years. He said they are also an installing contractor, however not on this particular project.

Because the North Shore Transfer Station is a marine facility, it is naturally in a corrosive environment. The saltwater air will eventually start corroding any steel product including galvanized spiral ducting. The project was specified with 316 stainless steel to counter the corrosive seawater environment and any toxic off-gassing from the trash.

Stainless steel is also very expensive, almost five times that of regular steel, and Morrell said it’s important the spiral ducting installs correctly and without any damage.

Morrell said Ductmate offers their Spiralmate in a variety of materials that include galvannealed, aluminized, 304 stainless, 316 stainless and PVC coated. In addition, the Spiralmate has a sealing mastic in the pocket of the flange that eliminates the need to manually add sealant during assembly. Ductmate guarantees the flange will seal from 18’’ positive to 10’’ negative WG. The mastic is non-hardening and non-drying and will not crack when transported to the shop site by truck.

The sheet metal contractor on the project is Delta Sheet Metal Corporation located in Long Island City, NY. Delta is part of P. J. Mechanical Corp a mechanical contractor founded in 1971 and serving the greater New York City real estate market.

Jacob Pierides, Senior Project Manager for Delta Sheet Metal, commented that the installation was different from the typical spiral projects.

The overall size of the facility measures 260’ by 215’ and consists of three levels. The tipping floor approximately 26’ above the pier is where the large trash trucks enter and unload their waste. The waste falls to the loading section 10’ below where heavy equipment collects and tamps the trash into compact bundles. These trash bundles are then loaded onto barges 16’ lower at the pier level where they are taken for eventual burial.

The facility requires constant ventilation due to the refuse odor and exhaust gases from the trucks. Because of the volume of ventilation required, the facility has 28 fans with 18 located in the mezzanine level. These 18 fans are all connected to the spiral ducting with runs along the station ceiling.

In all, approximately 3,800 linear feet of stainless spiral ducting was installed at the transfer station in a variety of sizes from 10” to 62” with 1,400 feet sized at 52”. Over 1,200 stainless steel Spiralmate connectors of all sizes were used to attach the ducting.

The highest point in the trash facility is 62’, making the installation rather treacherous at times! For ductwork 42” or less in diameter, Pierides said the sections were manufactured 10’ lengths. Ductwork above 42” in diameter was manufactured in 5’ long sections. All sections were assembled piece by piece in the air.

“Spiralmate made it easier to connect spiral ductwork 60 feet up in the air,” mentioned Pierides. “The one bolt closure band accelerates installation time in the field compared to bolting the flanges together. Using Spiralmate connections helped with the production and quality of the spiral ductwork installation.”

He said that by using Spiralmate connections they did not have to add any additional stiffeners to the duct. That made production in the shop and installation in the field more efficient. It also made it safer by reducing the possibility of a section accidentally coming loose while workers were in the air.

Pierides also concluded the Spiralmate duct connectors helped the spiral ducting maintain its shape.  Using Spiralmate connections made the installation of the spiral ducts on this project possible. It allowed for the spiral duct to maintain its shape after installation by adding rigidity to the overall structural product.