Real cost of clean air solutions

Unbeknownst by some, air quality plays a pivotal role in companies and that’s why there is a need to invest in clean air solutions. The main purpose of such installations is to protect people, products and the environment from airborne contaminants. But with increasing energy costs and strong global competition, companies have to make the right decisions not only to be profitable but also to reach their sustainability goals which are of interest to their stakeholders. So the challenge is to determine a reliable and energy efficient solution which reduces cost over the full product lifetime and lowers the environmental footprint.

You will see a similar situation looking at your installed air filters. Generally speaking, only 8% of the overall life cycle cost is the filter itself, around 80% is on energy, the other 12% is on system downtime, maintenance and disposal of the spend filter elements.

In both cases, a deeper analysis and calculation is recommended and will help you choosing the right product for your application, providing high filtration efficiency combined with the lowest energy consumption and lowest environmental impact. 

You may have heard about the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis as well as the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculation scheme. But why using two different methods to calculate cost for your clean air solutions? Hereinafter we elaborate on similarities and differences of both scenarios and show how Camfil looks at it.

In Camfil we utilise LCC as a component based analysis, calculating the life cycle cost of air filters which are installed in already existing air handling units. 

• Life Cycle Cost in general determines the user´s costs for cleaning the air during the entire user phase of the filter. 
• At Camfil we utilise our LCC software to help our customers predict the full life cycle cost of the air filter solution.

* Data based on an annual lifecycle of an average HVAC filter operating 8,000 hours per year. 

For the calculation of industrial dust extraction systems Camfil follows the TCO approach which in turn includes the investment for the capital equipment like dust and fume collectors. 

• Compared to the LCC analysis, the TCO calculation additionally includes the initial purchase price for capital equipment beside the filters and operational costs.
• The TCO approach is used for calculating costs for industrial dust collectors with mechanically pulse-cleaned filters and additionally includes cost for compressed air consumption and the systems annual safety inspection.

* Our data is based on a selection of various processes with average cartridge style dust collectors, general dust type, 8 hours operation, 5 days a week, average of 24 month filter lifetime.