The last few years have been challenging for American industry, and while the difficulties aren’t over, many companies are able to see opportunities ahead. It might seem like an odd time to be talking about a business cost, but mechanical insulation is an often overlooked investment that can pay substantial dividends. First, let’s define the process: mechanical insulation insulates equipment or processes rather than enveloping buildings. It’s most commonly found around ductwork and piping.
How does mechanical insulation benefit businesses?
There are many benefits to installing mechanical insulation:
Energy savings
The National Insulation Association (NIA) says that over 20 years, a mechanical insulation system will save up to 500 times the energy taken to manufacture it. And if that sounds a little too long term, the NIA also claims that the return on investment or payback can be rapid – six months to two years!
Condensation control
Whether you’re dealing with hot water distribution and steam pipes, or cold piping for refrigeration, mechanical insulation can improve efficiency. Insulating steam pipes reduces heat loss to the surrounding environment, improving efficiency while limiting internal condensation caused by rapid heating/cooling of hot pipes. Insulating refrigerated pipes reduces the condensation which can cause corrosion, mold and mildew, and ultimately damage to an entire system. In colder states, mechanical insulation dramatically reduces the risk of freezing, which can stop productivity and permanently damage machinery.
Noise reduction
We often think of acoustic insulation as being part of a building process, but machine insulation has a number of benefits – it reduces harmful sound levels/vibration levels for personnel/purchasers, it ensures outdoor machinery meets legal requirements, it creates comfortable working environments and it improves productivity and safety levels.
Employee protection
We’ve already mentioned how noise reduction helps safety by allowing workers to hear better, it also means hearing damage is obviated which reduces company risk, protects workers from hot or cold piping and surfaces, sharp edges and low head clearance and reduces the vibrations that can lead to leaks and other personnel threatening risks
Emission Reduction
Mechanical insulation significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon footprints. One recent study suggests that insulating 8 feet of 4-inch pipe that is heated to 350 F with a mere two inches of insulation offsets 20,000 miles of CO2 emissions from a 3-liter truck. The same offset would require planting 360 trees or replacing 310 43-watt incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs. For many industries, this is an attractive prospect, given the other advantages of mechanical insulation
Longer equipment life
Mechanical insulation is a superb energy efficiency measure – it reduces operating costs, prevents damage like corrosion or vibration, and improves machine performance.
Mechanical Insulation solutions for all organizations
In summary, mechanical insulation reduces costs, improves productivity, safeguards the workforce, and improves the environment. It’s a technical process that requires expertise – there are several different kinds of mechanical insulation depending on location, safety standards in place in different sectors, and desired outcomes – but as a contributor in organizational success, it’s one of the best investments a company can make.
If it sounds as if mechanical insulation is the solution to many problems – it is! So why don’t more companies invest in it? One answer is that while initiatives like Build Back Better and the Housing Supply Action Plan are offering many businesses an opportunity to take on new projects and expand activities – making it the perfect moment to invest in improving plant and machinery – finding the right team to install mechanical insulation can be demanding.
Like many potential business improvements, mechanical insulation requires careful planning. Whilst the benefits are clear, it can be necessary to pause or limit productivity to undertake the work, and being able to guarantee a rapid, clean installation along with a high quality outcome is essential to success in the field. In other words, the right people need to be in the right place at the right time to ensure the project can be completed swiftly and expertly.
That’s where we come in.
Cruitfly is a construction staffing company with a difference – we carefully put together teams for specific projects, drawing on the expertise of our recruiters and their in-depth knowledge of our workforce. We can staff insulation projects with the right blend of skills to ensure work is rapidly and expertly completed and results exceed expectations.