While Earth Day is an important time to celebrate nature and the beauty of the outdoors, at Hollingsworth & Vose, we are doing our part to make the air quality in buildings safer through filtration solutions that reduce energy consumption and minimize carbon emissions as compared to standard filtration in the market.
With energy consumption in buildings contributing over 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and HVAC equipment accounting for 40% of commercial building energy usage, our team is motivated to help overcome these energy burdens through the introduction of advanced filter media that achieves better and more sustainable outcomes.
Air filtration is a critical requirement for healthy indoor air quality, but one that often involves making difficult decisions around higher energy expenditure to achieve the increased levels of filtration needed to keep building occupants safe and productive. That’s because it generally takes more energy to move air through higher-grade filters in HVAC systems (such as MERV 13-16), meaning more energy usage is the trade-off for cleaner air.
When considering indoor air quality, can we live in a safe and more energy-efficient world, having our cake and eating it too? A recent study conducted by on the carbon handprint of our NanoWave® filter media, an industry game-changer given its low-pressure-drop-to-performance ratio, revealed that building owners don’t have to compromise with higher energy usage for a safer indoor environment.
After reviewing our manufacturing processes and considering the energy use savings against comparable filter media, the study showed that NanoWave® emits 32 times less carbon and generates a savings of -326 kgs CO2e per filter use from cradle to gate. To put that into perspective, those savings are roughly the same amount of carbon emissions that a car ride from Massachusetts to Michigan would generate using regular gas.
The filtration industry admittedly has much work to do to continue improving manufacturing practices as responsible contributors to the green economy. At H&V, we are passionate about driving sustainable innovation to fulfill our mission of creating a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable world. If you are interested in learning more about how NanoWave® can help reduce HVAC energy consumption and lead to better outcomes for people, buildings, and the planet, please contact us at info@hovo.com.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Earth Day from the team at Hollingsworth & Vose!