Do you work in a green office?

No, we aren’t asking if you’re surrounded by forest-painted walls all day (although the colour green has been shown to be associated with tranquillity and improved reading ability. You might want to check out this option as well!).

Instead, we’re asking this: How sustainable is the office building that you work in? Is it a green office? Spoiler alert: if you aren’t using EnergyWeb’s insulated HVAC ducting, it’s not sustainable enough!

We love air conditioning!

Air conditioning is a wonderful thing. In the middle of a South African summer, carefully regulated indoor temperatures are vital. We struggle to be productive without them!

However, air conditioning has environmental and financial costs. Are these costs worth it?

The same applies to heating systems in winter. Have you ever tried to type an email with “frozen fingers” on a morning in the middle of July? Cranking up the building temperature definitely helps to warm up and get through that to-do list more effectively.
Room temperature in an office building can affect productivity, creativity and the ability of co-workers to collaborate. It is definitely a factor to consider when designing office buildings.

But what is this temperature regulation costing companies, and the Earth? And how is it affecting sustainability in business?

With EnergyWeb’s products, you can rest assured that temperature regulation is both effective AND sustainable. You CAN work in a green office and still have an HVAC system!

Why do buildings have HVAC systems?

HVAC stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Even though we often interchange the term with ‘air conditioning’ (which is just a cooling system), an HVAC system heats, ventilates and cools buildings throughout the year.

HVAC systems are thus used to heat or cool buildings (both residential and commercial) to maintain a constant temperature inside the building. The system supplies indoor rooms with fresh outdoor air. Additionally, it filters moisture, smoke, odors, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases from the air before pumping it into rooms inside buildings.

In other words, HVAC systems are great. The question is: could they be even better? At EnergyWeb, we believe so!

Energy losses in HVAC systems

HVAC systems work by distributing either cooled or heated air throughout buildings via a system of ducts. Air conditioning companies typically install these ducts above the ceiling.

Is your roof insulated? Find out more about the benefits of roof-ceiling insulation here.
Based on South African building standards, air conditioning companies usually fit insulated ducting into the system. The industry norm is thus to install thin polyester film ducting tubes.

Unfortunately, this thin film does not sufficiently prevent cooling or heating of air as it moves through the ducting system. In other words, heated air cools down again as it moves through the ducts, while cooled air is heated by the surrounding air in the ceiling. This means that a large percentage of energy used to heat or cool the air before distributing it throughout the building is wasted.

This energy loss wastes electricity. This has two main negative effects:

1. Financial

Wasted electricity wastes money. By reducing energy loss via ducting tubes in HVAC systems, this money could be saved.

2. Environmental

If cooled air heats up, or heated air cools down, as it moves through the HVAC ducts, you use more electricity to maintain constant temperatures in the building. Since South Africa currently generates 93% of its electricity by burning coal, any increased electricity usage increases coal combustion.

Burning coal produces carbon dioxide, a gas which contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Burning more coal thus has significant negative effects on the environment.

In other words, using HVAC systems can result in a not-so-green office.

Go green: use EnergyWeb

Most South African buildings include insulated HVAC ducting to increase energy efficiency and financial return. However, insulation is not maximized.

This is where EnergyWeb comes in. We have a unique capacity to laminate foil onto fibre from 40mm up to a 150mm thickness. We do this in real-time and via a very cost-effective process to supply insulated ducting material at a very cost-efficient price.

By improving the insulation of these ducts, heated or cooled air will maintain its temperature better. Therefore the system uses less electricity to heat or cool the air.

Therefore, EnergyWeb’s insulated ducts have the following benefits:

• Affordability of production and installation (reduced initial costs)
• Reduced electricity costs after ducting installation (reduced running costs)
• Reduced energy loss (improved sustainability and a green office)

So, go green, smash your company’s sustainability development goals AND save money? What are you waiting for?

Contact us today to find out more about running a green office.