Innovation Profile: PanelDuct – flat-pack ducting provides route to success

Ballinrobe-based PanelDuct took the overall Irish Times Innovation Award for 2015 with its ingenious, one-step solution to the installation of air-conditioning ductwork. The PanelDuct solution eliminates two steps from the traditional three-step process, delivering faster installation times and a far more cost-effective product.

The normal process for dockworker insulation sees it being designed to meet the specifications of the rooftop where it is to be located, manually fabricated offset in a workshop and then shipped to the site. It is then installed in bulk format before being wrapped with insulation and externally clad for protection. That’s three quite costly and time-consuming operations.

PanelDuct has developed a highly innovative pre-insulated solution which is supplied in modular, flat-panel format to minimise transport costs and is installed in just one operation with the panels clicking together onsite. Air tightness is assured due to integral compression seals.

“What we are doing is unique”, says R&D manager Conal O’Neill. “We are producing the world’s first weather-resistant, steel-faced insulated panels. Where three sets of contractors were previously required to complete the installation of the ducting only one is required with our system.”

Among the many advantages of the system is its energy efficiency. It uses a patented compression-sealing system which gives the ducting very high standards of air tightness. This brings natural benefits in terms of noise reduction as well as energy and other savings.

“If air is leaking from system you need more power to push it through and that uses more energy and requires a larger and more expensive unit,” O’Neill says. “You don’t need any special tools to achieve this with the PanelDuct system. The panels fit together in what you might call a push-clip system which automatically creates the compression seal. This means that the system offers real cost savings over time to a user when compared with traditional systems.”

Frustrations

The concept for the new system has its genesis in work being carried out by PanelDuct’s parent company, Walsh Mechanical Engineering.

The company and its customers were experiencing certain frustrations in relation to ductwork installations.

“The solution came out of two different situations”, says O’Neill. “The first was when we had delivered the pre-made ductwork to a site and the customer changed his mind about the route he wanted it to take. This is not simple. It required us to make new ducting. The customer thought it should be a simple matter of taking the ducting apart and making quite straightforward adjustments. He couldn’t understand why this was not the case.

“In this case a change in size was the issue – the size of the ductwork had to change to accommodate the new route. The customer asked why we couldn’t just take it apart and we had to accept that it was a good question.”

That prompted the initial thinking in relation to a flat-pack solution. “Another situation then arose when a customer complained about us having to visit the site on three separate occasions. That was a good question as well. Just because something had been done one way for more than 100 years was no reason for it not to change. We needed to change our mindset.”

That initiated some serious thought. “We started looking at a flat-pack solution which would be assembled onsite”, says O’Neill. “Our first intention was not to have pre-insulated panels: that came later. What we have developed is an integrated, modular system, which is not being done anywhere else in the world.”

Inherently recyclable

The system is also inherently recyclable as a result. “If a traditional ventilation system has to be replaced or redesigned the ducting sections are thrown out”, O’Neill says. “However, with the PanelDuct system the ducts can be disassembled and the individual panels reused either for the new system or for another system elsewhere. A lot of our customers are telling us that they love the system because there is no waste with it.”

The system was first launched in mid-2014 and received a very positive response. The first system was installed in Tesco Express in Dundalk in July last year and demand has been very strong since. "There has been a huge upsurge in interest since winning the innovation award," O'Neill says. "We're getting a lot more people looking for demos. They are genuinely interested in the product. That is translating into additional business and that in turn has given us the confidence to invest in additional capital equipment to expand production in the year ahead."

A further benefit has been the standing of the company generally. "Since winning the award two banks who had turned us down previously have approached us with offers of funding. That's the difference it has made to us. I can't believe the change in the business since." Panelduct. ie