| Quad Graphics
Printing company recieves new life with addition of new HVAC system.
 SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Total plant air conditioning and metal duct installation were cost prohibitive, so Fina employed the cost alternative of fabric ductwork and a past successful technique used in other Quad/Graphics’ other plants–spot cooling. The combination is now saving significant operating costs versus total plant air conditioning, according to management.
Fina’s spot cooling air distribution layout of five fabric ducts efficiently spot cool only worker stations at offset printing machines. The Comfort-Throw Sedona fabric ducts from DuctSox, Dubuque, IA, have from one to three factory-engineered linear diffusers appearing only at points near worker stations. Using fabric duct versus metal saved the project over $150,000 in labor and materials, Fina estimated.
“Because we used fabric duct instead of metal, the retrofit cost was approximately cut in half,” said Fina. “Once other engineers realize fabric duct’s value in a project such as this, I think you’ll be seeing a lot of other industrial plants adding these types of cooling and IAQ benefits for employees.”
 Another advantage of fabric duct is airflow. The printing process needs gentle airflow that doesn’t stir up typical manufacturing dust or disturb paper proofs. Fabric duct’s linear slot diffusers provide the airflow needed for employee spot cooling.
The easy removal of fabric duct makes printing equipment very accessible for repair and maintenance. To move heavy-duty lifts past the 10-foot-high duct for printing equipment repair, a section needs only to be unzipped and slid back on its H-track suspension system. If necessary, the H-track itself can be moved with equal ease. “Anytime you can remove 50 or 60 feet of ductwork in a matter of minutes to gain service accessibility, that’s a real advantage and in fact a necessity,” said Fina. “There’s no piece of industrial machinery made yet that doesn’t need maintenance. If ductwork interferes with the maintenance of that equipment, then that’s unacceptable.”
Because production floor machinery is capable of producing excess heat on most winter days, cooling is still needed. Fina chose a different type of DuctSox, the Low-Throw Sedona model, custom manufactured with a porosity that allows all of the air to flow through the fabric.
Using different DuctSox models for summer and winter operation affords Quad/Graphics the unique opportunity of cleaning its make-up air distribution system every six months without disrupting production. In just a few hours, a small crew can easily switch out the duct systems according to season and commercially launder the disassembled system.
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