ROSWELL, GA.—Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products has become an Energy Star Partner. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that helps businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency.
Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products will use its Energy Star Partnership as part of its efforts to help commercial, institutional and industrial facilities improve their heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system energy performance. Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products supplies HVAC system air filter media with lower pressure drops than conventional air filtration media, which translates into reduced energy costs to operate the HVAC system.
“When you consider that heating and cooling accounts for 40 percent of a commercial building’s total electricity use, the HVAC system is a perfect place to look for opportunities to save energy costs,” says Dave Matela, Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products. “As an Energy Star Partner, Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products will work with HVAC filter manufacturers, filter distributors, and facilities managers and engineers to help them improve indoor air quality and energy performance, while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, adopting energy-efficient design and technologies for new office buildings can cut energy costs by as much as 50 percent, while renovations to existing buildings that replace older systems with more energy-efficient technology can yield savings of up to 30 percent. A quick way to realize savings of 10 percent or more—at little or no investment—is to effectively operate and maintain existing systems such as HVAC.
Switching to a lower pressure drop HVAC filter is one of the easiest changes building owners and facility managers can make to reduce energy costs. That’s because with a lower pressure drop filter, the HVAC system motor needs to overcome less resistance to deliver the required air flow, thus reducing the motor’s energy consumption.
Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products recommends that facility professionals considering the energy costs of various HVAC filter technologies use an energy cost calculator such as the one found at www.kcfiltration.com to analyze their HVAC operating costs and estimate the energy savings available with various air filtration technologies. They should also ask their filter supplier the following questions:
• At a given performance level, how much money could be saved by using a lower pressure drop filter?
• What pressure drop reduction offsets the difference in initial filter price?
• How much of the initial filter cost does that energy cost savings offset?
“We plan to use our Energy Star Partnership to promote energy efficiency as an easy and desirable option for buildings to prevent pollution, protect the global environment and save on energy bills,” Matela says. “In addition to air filtration products, Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products offers educational materials, including a ‘Filtering out Confusion’ pamphlet series with tips on proper filter selection and maintenance, upgrading an air filtration system, reducing HVAC system energy costs, improving the health and productivity of building tenants via the proper air filtration strategy, and other topics.”
