Commercial and Industrial Insulation: The Forgotten Technology
What can save $4.8 billion per year, approximately 0.5 quadrillion Btu or 82 million barrels of oil, and a CO2 reduction of 43 million metric tons per year while generating 89,000 jobs?
If you guessed mechanical insulation, you are right. But as Ron King, former president of the National Insulation Association, and Lance Altizer, vice president of Marketing & Product Management at Johns Manville, will tell you, mechanical insulation, though simple and cost-effective, is frequently underutilized.
King and Altizer spoke at an EE Noon seminar last month entitled, "Commercial and Industrial Insulation – The Forgotten Technology," where they discussed how mechanical insulation can increase energy efficiency, protect the environment, create jobs and stimulate the economy.
The discussion also focused on the challenges involved in achieving these goals, many of which have to do with the current state of mechanical insulation as well as a number of other factors inhibiting its market penetration.
Challenges to better insulation
King and Altizer were in agreement that, if applied across the industrial and commercial sectors, a comprehensive mechanical insulation maintenance and upgrade program could yield immediate benefits. There are, however, several practical challenges to overcome before those benefits can be realized.
One problem cited by both King and Altizer is that mechanical insulation is often abandoned during the building design and construction processes in order to reduce project costs. Moreover, insulation thickness has not changed for 20 years, which means that the systems currently in place are often forgotten about or simply ignored.
In addition, mechanical insulation is rarely included on construction schedules; when it is present, it often competes with tasks performed by other trades that tend to damage and hide such insulation, making it difficult to inspect.
It is estimated that almost a third of all mechanical insulation is either missing or damaged within three years of installation; sometimes damage is incurred during installation.
Stronger codes, better insulation
Another barrier to better insulation is the upgrading, national adoption and enforcement of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) codes for mechanical insulation.
Currently, the adoption and enforcement of these codes is irregular, with some states lagging considerably. ASHRAE will release significantly updated 2010 codes that will that will address some of these issues.
The way forward
Despite the numerous challenges, the benefits to a comprehensive mechanical insulation implementation cannot be ignored. King and Altizer recommend supporting the Mechanical Insulation Istallation Incentive Act of 2009 (H.R. 4296) and the Building Star Energy Efficiency Act of 2010 (S. 3079), both of which aim to provide financial incentives for mechanical installation projects
