With Commercial Air Filters, Looking at the Long Run Can Bring Big Savings

12/12/2011 // Riverdale, NJ, USA // Green Air Filters // Lynne Laake

All too often, the old adage rings true, even for air filters: You get what you pay for. When it comes to commercial air filters, however, sub par performance can be more than an inconvenience. It can mean air filled with dangerous particles -- indoor pollution that can cause discomfort, disease, and even disrupt the business processes of high-tech companies in the computer, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries.

It can also mean higher costs over the long run. Low-cost air filters that degrade quickly require frequent maintenance and replacement. Those costs add up, ultimately turning the ‘bargain’ on its head. Higher-quality products, on the other hand, may cost more initially but perform better, for longer periods of time. In the end, they provide the greater return on investment -- not to mention a healthier indoor environment where clean air isn’t a goal but a fact.

For a Dallas-based Fortune 500 company -- a worldwide leader in the semiconductor and computer technology business -- this long-term view of commercial air filters has paid off handsomely, resulting not just in clean air but significant savings.

For decades, the company had been buying filters as commodity items, favoring low-cost filters in a strategy that it thought brought it value. What it brought, however, was just the opposite. The low-cost air filters featured a traditional design, using coarse fiber media to keep dangerous particles out of the air. But coarse fiber media has one big disadvantage: It doesn’t stand up to time. Efficiency drops quickly, requiring frequent replacement. Costs, it turns out, are high after all, because so many of those ‘low-cost’ air filters are required over time.

Cutting-edge commercial air filter designs, like those pioneered by Camfil Farr, the global leader in innovative clean air solutions, take a different approach. They use advanced technologies like fine fiber media to provide optimal efficiency for maintained filter efficiency over time. They also last longer so while these air filters may cost more up front they need less frequent change-outs, resulting in lower overall costs. Indeed, total lifecycle cost (LCC) calculations predicted that the Dallas company would see savings of 37 percent over five years.

The proof, of course, is in real-world performance. So the company pitted its commodity air filters against Camfil Farr’s advanced design. Coarse fiber air filters were tested side by side with Camfil’s fine fiber media filters rated at the same efficiency. They were challenged by the same air, at the same airflow, over the same timeframe.

Testing confirmed the LCC calculations, demonstrating clearly the substantially decreased ownership costs -- in this case, a savings of nearly 40 percent -- that Camfil’s fine fiber air filters offer.

For the semiconductor giant, its next decision was easy: switching from its existing commercial air filters to Camfil Farr’s innovative -- and cost saving -- design. Indeed, three years after testing, the performance of the Camfil Farr filters still align with the LCC calculations.

These results weren’t an anomaly. Many of the biotechnology companies, hospitals, schools, and other organizations that have implemented Camfil Farr clean air solutions have also been able to cut their HVAC energy costs by up to 40 percent a year.

By looking beyond initial costs, and looking at long-term performance, the Fortune 500 company -- like many other Camfil Farr customers -- was able to put spend less money on air filtration, while getting cleaner air in the process. That’s not just a win for the bottom line, but for health and for comfort -- and a true bargain that stands the test of time.

The world leader in air filtration systems, Camfil Farr provides clean air solutions for hospitals, hotels, office buildings, educational institutions, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies. We provide the tools to achieve sustainability, maintain high air quality, and reduce airborne infections -- all while lowering total cost of ownership. Camfil Farr customers go green without ever sacrificing performance. For more information about our innovative air filters, visit us online at www.green-air-filters.com, or call us toll-free at 888.599.6620.

Commercial Air Filters

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