Air Control Is Committed to Sustainability

In 2022, total end-use energy consumption by the U.S. residential and commercial sectors was roughly 22 quadrillion British thermal units — equal to 29% of the nation’s total end-use energy consumption. And at an average of 35% of your total energy consumption, your home or commercial building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is by far your largest energy consumer. In the residential sector alone, the U.S. Energy Information Agency estimates that heating and cooling account for roughly half of the energy used in a typical home. At Air Control Heating and Air, we are committed to sustainability in the HVAC industry.

The result is that roughly 40% of our carbon emissions result from heating, cooling, and hot water demand — a number that has been influenced by (among other things) the ever-burgeoning size of American homes.

All this means that your HVAC system is the largest contributor to your structure’s carbon footprint. Read on to find out how you can help sustain our environment — for yourself and generations to come.

It All Adds Up To Sustainability, What is a Carbon Footprint?

A building’s carbon footprint is defined as the amount of CO2 it produces during its operations and activities. All buildings have a carbon footprint, including your home or commercial structure, and the fossil fuels we consume to create a comfortable home or workspace have real-world impacts — from air pollution to global warming.

At Air Control, we believe that reducing carbon emissions is a collective responsibility. And installing and properly maintaining an efficient heating, cooling and air quality system is a great way for our customers to make a positive change for the environment and reduce their energy usage. That’s why we offer the industry’s most efficient, environmentally-friendly HVAC and indoor air quality equipment, as well as a range of system maintenance plans designed to keep your equipment running smoothly and efficiently, reduce your building’s carbon footprint, and save you money.

How to Reduce Both Your Carbon Footprint and Your Energy Bills

As temperatures and conditions become more extreme, heating and cooling costs rise, and your HVAC equipment has to work harder. That’s not good for your bottom line — or the environment.

There are a number of ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your home or business. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, two of the most important are installation of smart thermostats, which allow for reduced energy consumption at peak times of the day, and more energy efficient HVAC systems — including heat pumps, which eliminate the need to burn fossil fuels.

In fact, managing energy settings and HVAC systems provides several ways to lower your carbon footprint, including:

• Schedule Routine Maintenance & HVAC Filter Changes
  Regular, routine maintenance is essential to keep your home or commercial HVAC system running efficiently. Commercial maintenance costs can be reduced by 40% through regular, routine maintenance, and you can keep your HVAC system running efficiently through monthly filter changes — which alone can lower wasted energy by 10-15%. When those filters are clogged, systems have restricted airflow and lead to more energy and money being used to heat and cool.
• Monitor Ventilation and Air Quality
  Energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings — both new and existing — often require mechanical ventilation (including outdoor air intakes) to maintain indoor air quality, and this outside air needs to be heated or cooled according to the season. But in any building, excessive ventilation wastes energy, and installing air quality sensors can help maintain the balance between good indoor air quality and HVAC energy efficiency. You can also seal heating and cooling ducts to improve HVAC efficiency by 20% or more by using mastic, foil tape or blown-in duct sealant, and wrapping the ducts in insulation for further improvement.
• Upgrade Your System
  Due to efficiency improvements, newer heating and cooling systems use significantly less energy than systems as recent as 10 years old. While it will cost a bit more at the outset, in the long term, you’ll save plenty of money with a newer, higher efficiency system. In fact, replacing those systems with ENERGY STAR-certified products can easily reduce energy costs by up to 20%. And upgrading HVAC systems with advanced digital economizer controls or sensors can provide even more savings.
• Install Programmable Thermostats
  Install programmable thermostats to substantially reduce costs, wasted energy, and time spent adjusting temperature settings. When areas of a building are not in use, temperatures can be set higher or lower based on a 7-day model for more flexibility (or a 5+2-day model for businesses that operate 5 days a week). Set the temperature to 72 degrees in the summer and 68 degrees in the winter to save even more time, money, and energy.

Those are just some of the ways you can easily reduce your carbon footprint and achieve real energy savings. But there are others which, depending on your location, available renewable resources, and government incentives (including tax credits) are — or could become before long — viable options.

Solar Power

Convert the sun’s energy that is absorbed and stored within building walls, windows, roofs, and floors into thermal energy that radiates when temperatures drop. Pipes are a common storage area for thermal energy as the water within them stores and radiates heat energy when warmed by the sun. You could also consider the installation of solar panels — which are becoming more cost-effective by the day — to take advantage of Georgia’s ample sunshine.

Geothermal Energy

Consume the Earth’s energy from deep inside the planet to heat or cool any building through heat pumps installed in the ground near the building. Heat within the ground is absorbed and used by the liquid inside the pumps to heat the building in the winter and cool it in the summer. And when it comes to efficiency, geothermal air conditioning beats conventional by far — because it isn’t wasting electricity trying to pump indoor hot air into the already-hot outdoors.

DeVAP

Take advantage of the new and improved HVAC system, Desiccant-Enhanced Evaporative Air Conditioner (DeVAP), that combines cooling evaporation and liquefied desiccants for cost-effective air conditioning. and one that uses up to “90% less electricity — and up to 80% less total energy — than traditional air conditioning.”

Digital Ceilings

If you really want to make your building intelligent, you could consider installing a digital ceiling with sensors that detect motion, occupancy, temperature and carbon dioxide levels. The digital ceiling also controls the building’s lighting, security and HVAC systems by learning occupants’ habits and automatically adjusting the building’s lighting and temperature.

At Air Control, as part of adding to the sustainability of our precious resources and planet, we offer a number of options to help you reduce your carbon footprint, including the non-fossil fuel-burning Bryant Evolution Extreme heat pump and ecobee thermostats.