P3ductal and Life Cycle Costing (LCC)

To correctly assess the economic impact of a systems solution, we must consider not only purchase price but also the impact generated by all stages of life, including management, maintenance and disposal. LCC therefore provides a complete, real picture to allow us to identify the solution that really is the most convenient.

Life Cycle Costing enables an economic estimate of costs (duly updated) generated by all stages of a plant’s working life: from its development through to management, maintenance and disposal.
LCC can optimise plant design, ensuring that better performance is obtained in terms of duration, overall yield and sustainability of the work, thanks to suitable sizing, less waste, energy savings and the limitation of waste production.
When we extend the analysis to cover the whole of the plant’s life cycle, we can assess the effective economics of the investment.

LCC generally includes the costs of design, construction, running, maintenance and disposal, and can be used as a decision-making tool on an economic basis by which to compare alternative products providing equal functions.
In the case at hand, to best assess the economic impact during running, due to the energy savings brought forth by P3ductal ducting, we must first analyse two essential technical performance issues:

> thermal insulation
> air seal

Thermal insulation
The “insulating power” of a material refers to its capacity to reduce heat transmission between two environments of different temperatures. This property is defined as “thermal conductivity” and is expressed as λ. Expanded polyurethane is currently one of the best thermally insulating materials available on the market. P3ductal panels produced using Hydrotec technology guarantee insulation with λu = 0.024 W/(m ºC) at 10 ºC. P3ductal panels are produced with densities ranging from 40 to 65 kg/m3. This is because the lowest conductivity values fall within this range. The real advantage of this technical data is revealed if we consider that it takes 33 mm of fibreglass or 31 mm of neoprene to match the thermal insulation offered by pre-insulated 20 mm thick P3ductal aluminium ducting.
The Italian Decree no. 412 of 26.08.1993 sanctions the fact that the hot air ducts for winter heating positioned in unheated environments must be insulated with a thickness of insulating material that is no less than that specified in the table given as part of the Decree for pipes with an external diameter of between 20 and 39 mm. This same table is also used as reference by standard  UNI 10376 regulating the thermal insulation materials used in both heating and air-conditioning systems. If ducting is positioned in a cold environment, the pre-insulated aluminium ducting (generally supplied with 20 mm thick insulation) may be compliant with just 17 mm.

Air seal
P3ductal ducting use an exclusive, patented flanging system to guarantee exceptional air seal, eliminating all longitudinal losses and greatly limiting losses at transversal joints. Thanks to special bayonet rubber profiles, a central element of the joint system, the ducting is considered as Class C sealing in accordance with standard UNI EN 13403.
Air loss in a ventilation network can refer to the difference between the volume of air supplied (or suctioned) by the fan and that effectively released (or extracted) into the conditioned environment.
It would be a major mistake to neglect to consider that air leaks in ducting not only risk significantly increasing energy bills, but also penalise the diffusion of air in the various environments, which can result in the unjustified over-sizing of systems.