by Brianna Crandall — April 4, 2016—A recent survey from the nonprofit Building Commissioning Association (BCA) found that an overwhelming majority of engineers and other building professionals believe that duct leakage is a significant cause of energy loss in most commercial buildings today.
The survey, taken in December 2015 and sponsored in part by building performance technologies innovator Aeroseal LLC, queried BCA members regarding various building performance issues. A total of 236 BCA members, representing engineers, commissioning agents, facilities managers, and other building professionals responded to the survey.
Survey results show that fully three-quarters of today’s building professionals believe that leaky ductwork contributes substantially to energy loss in commercial buildings.
According to the survey, building professionals think that leaky ducts are a common, widespread problem. About 74 percent of the respondents said they believe most buildings in the United States today have significant duct leakage. About 55 percent said that, in their experience, duct leakage rates of 15 percent or more are somewhat common, while an additional 13 percent said they are highly likely.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ranks duct sealing third among all HVAC-related upgrades available to commercial building owners for significant energy savings. The agency’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) also ranks duct sealing as one of the 10 most effective energy-saving strategies among all performance enhancement categories.
Neal Walsh, senior vice president, Aeroseal, says the company calls it “The Hole Truth” about building performance. In his view:
For decades, the problems associated with duct leakage in commercial buildings have typically been underestimated for one simple reason — fixing the problem has been a highly expensive and intrusive proposition. Now that new innovations in duct sealing technology are available, building professionals are finding duct sealing to be the new low-hanging fruit when it comes to energy savings for both new and existing buildings.
Results from the survey indicate that 22 percent of building professionals have found significant duct leakage to be prevalent in both new and existing buildings.
Visit the Aeroseal Web site for more about the study, called The Hole Truth About U.S. Buildings: Duct Leaks Plague Today’s Commercial Properties.
