Guaranteeing thermal insulation in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is essential for ensuring they’re efficient and sustainable structures. One key part of achieving this efficiency is to incorporate customized HVAC parts that prevent energy losses. 

We analyze the importance of thermal insulation in these systems and the current alternatives to accomplish it.

Why is thermal insulation so important?

Effective thermal insulation guarantees a number of benefits. 

First of all, it enhances a building’s thermal comfort while guaranteeing energy efficiency and eliminating heat losses. Secondly, it prevents condensation and its associated problems . Finally, while improving a building’s thermal insulation might require an initial investment, it then translates into maintenance and operating cost savings, lowering heating and cooling costs, as well as reducing the use of energy resources.

Considering growing concerns about energy use, a number of strategies are suggested to guarantee a building’s thermal insulation:

• Structural thermal insulation, which includes design features such as building orientation and the use of appropriate insulating materials.
• Efficient HVAC insulation systems. These structures play a key role in maintaining interior temperatures, and so their design is crucial to avoid energy waste. Inadequate insulation, a faulty design or air leakages might compromise HVAC systems. Through the use of customized HVAC parts, companies access a strategy to achieve thermal insulation. In order to attain this goal, these HVAC parts need to be built using materials with the lowest thermal conductivity, among other requirements.

How using customized HVAC parts can improve the performance of your installations

Thermal loss reduction

A building’s duct systems play an essential role in regards to heating and cooling. Thus, they must be built and designed so that they reduce heat loss and gain that might happen and, in turn, help save energy. 

Air and water leaks prevention

Proper thermal insulation in HVAC systems also prevents air and water leakages from happening. For instance, cold air traveling through properly insulated ducts doesn’t heat and doesn’t cause condensation or moisture problems either (such as mold growth) which can come as a consequence of bad insulation. 

Less energy consumption and lower HVAC carbon footprint 

Energy efficiency and carbon neutrality are now requirements for buildings, which must be environmentally friendly throughout their whole life cycle. In fact, it’s estimated that 80% of the energy consumed in buildings is related to heating and cooling, and 33% of global energy consumption. 

This means reducing energy consumption through the right HVAC parts significantly minimizes depletion of resources and a building’s carbon footprint. 

This also translates into a property upgrade, as both the current real estate market and governmental actions increasingly demand constructions to be environmentally friendly. 

Through insulating HVAC systems, energy consumption and energy-related emissions are reduced. This is amplified by the fact that using quality, durable materials for HVAC parts means these systems need less maintenance so that even fewer resources are needed. 

 

You might also be interested in: HVAC Market Trends Expected to Heat Up in 2022

 

Recycling custom thermal insulation parts

An HVAC system’s sustainability can be boosted by choosing the right materials for HVAC parts. For instance, materials such as EPP are 100% recyclable. This means they can be given a second life once they’re no longer needed as part of a building’s thermal insulation. 

Buildings thus approach circular economy models, considering their environmental impact at every stage of their life cycle.

The thermal insulation design process for HVAC parts

Designing HVAC parts is a complex process that should be trusted by an experienced and up-to-date partner. This is because there are a number of requirements that HVAC systems must guarantee in order to be considered efficient: 

• A long-lasting performance
• Minimizing heat loss
• Provide optimal acoustic insulation
• Optimize assembling and operational costs
• Respond to the building’s location and climate 
• Be in tune with the construction’s intended use
• Be in accordance with the building’s structural condition
• Employ the right material, which must resist moisture, dust and be completely inert so that it doesn’t release unwanted fibers or compounds into the outdoor air 

In other words, the goal of designing HVAC parts is to be able to generate comfort temperatures in a building while providing cost reduction and without compromising the users’ experience.

At the same time, the process of designing HVAC customized technical parts involves the following steps: 

• Planning: this means looking at the present state of the building (if the thermal insulation is part of a rehabilitation project) and devising the right system considering the requirements cited above. 

Specific design software can help engineers generate HVAC models that are analyzed and verified before the final product is developed. At this point, the system’s appearance and material requirements are also analyzed.

• Machine-generated 3D prototypes are created in order to generate samples that can confirm if the customized HVAC parts fulfill their functional goals. If nonconformities are found or the client makes suggestions as part of a feedback process, it’s still possible to execute changes without incurring economic costs or important time delays.
• From prototypes, the first technical parts can be created. In the case of EPP HVAC parts, these are manufactured using an aluminum mold.
• When these final technical parts are verified, the process moves on to the mass production stage, in order to obtain the customized pieces that will later be installed.

 

You might also be interested in: Heat recovery system parts: the latest Expanded Polypropylene application

 

High-performance thermal insulation materials 

EPP or Expanded Polypropylene emerges as the ideal material for guaranteeing thermal insulation in HVAC systems. 

This is because of the material’s exceptional features, including:

• Thermal insulation capabilities. Made of 98% air, EPP presents a very low thermal conductivity, which has made it a very useful choice for construction projects. Installed in HVAC systems, it enhances their thermal performance and avoids heat loss
• Extremely lightweight. It can be incorporated to HVAC systems without adding significant weight to structures. This also adds to the EPP HVAC part’s easy transportation and assembling.
• Durable and resistant to deformation and breakage, as well as presenting an outstanding mechanical strength
• Acoustic insulation properties
• Flexible and easy to cut, thus facilitating customization needs and tailor-made designs, including complex shapes. In fact, it’s capable of resisting advanced 3D engineering designs.
• Easy to install, which in turn also translates into cost reductions

Are you interested in achieving thermal insulation for HVAC systems and how to attain the right HVAC parts? At Knauf Appliances we’re experts in designing and manufacturing customized EPP parts for HVAC systems. Get in touch with us and learn more.