Facility managers and architects who design or work with large industrial buildings are seeking options to save energy and help achieve green and sustainable business goals.

Increasingly, air destratification fans are being added to green buildings’ construction specs. Destratification is a means for facility managers to recycle some of the heat or conditioned air they’ve already paid for.

Heating, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration can account for up to 41 percent of a manufacturer’s warehouse annual utility costs, according to the Illinois Smart Energy Design Assistance Center. Air temperatures in a building rise an average of a half degree per vertical foot, according to Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy. A building’s HVAC system must start and stop frequently to battle this temperature gradient from ceiling to floor.

Air destratification fans simply circulate the layer of hotter air at the ceiling down to the floor level to equalize a plant’s overall temperature in both hot and cold seasons.

Destratification makes an HVAC system more efficient, reducing its energy use. It also helps prevent heat loss through the ceiling.

It is not uncommon for plants to save up to 35 percent of their energy costs with the installation of an efficient air destratification system.

If you have decided to install an air destratification system, your next step is to choose which system is most suitable for your plant. When choosing a system, first ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the fan system have enough force for the air to reach the ground level with minimum energy usage?

This is especially challenging in high-bay and high-ceiling (more than 30 feet) facilities. In manufacturing facilities and product warehouses, heat becomes trapped at the ceiling, so be sure that the system has the power to capture that heat and move it directly to the floor where people are working.

2. How can the system accommodate ceiling obstacles?

Rafters; HVAC ducts;and overhead cranes, hoists, and runways can make it nearly impossible to install a fan at the highest ceiling level. Can the destratification fan system fit into tight locations to circulate the hottest strata of air found at the ceiling level?

3. Does the system match my plant’s size and other requirements?

A good destratification system must have a sufficient number of fans installed to match a facility’s size, configuration, and ceiling height. Sometimes air movement is required for applications other than destratification. Does the fan system you are considering come equipped with various mounting options for spot cooling, evacuating hot air out of a space, or transferring air from one space to the next?

Choosing an air destratification fan system with installation mounting that allows the fans to circulate air horizontally in combination with fans that move air vertically can be an effective solution. Also, fans that can easily be reinstalled to different areas make sense to accommodate the moving of machinery or production lines.

4. Will the destratification system contribute to employee and customer comfort and safety?

Too often, temperatures in plants and warehouses are not equalized. Machinery on the factory floor can generate a lot of heat. These drafts and hot spots can cause employees to be too hot or too cold, slowing productivity. Employees sometimes resort to adding their own floor heaters or personal fans, which expends more energy. Make sure that the system you install is designed to improve temperatures for employee comfort.

5. Can I involve destratification experts during the building design and construction?

Getting advice early on in the design phase could save you thousands of dollars in unnecessary or expensive efforts that don’t achieve the results you want. A knowledgeable destratification fan manufacturer with experience in a range of manufacturing and warehousing sites should be able to assist you in designing the optimal system for your space.