Let me strengthen my argument by first illuminating my bias. I like the product KoolDuct and think everyone renovating or under new construction should be using it. In the following I would like to show you why. The US releases more CO2 than any country in the world (See Figure 1). U.S., homes account for 21% of all CO2 emissions¹ and business account for business account for 17% of the total². Of this release, businesses and residents use a combined total 38% or 2242 million metric tons (in 2001) (see Figure 2)³. The vast majority of energy used in a home is for heating and cooling. According to the DOE, Energy Information Administration's 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey anywhere from 38% to 70% of homes energy consumption is spent on heating and cooling⁴. Businesses data on the energy consumption is estimated to be similar. That leaves between 852 – 1569.4 million metric tons of CO2 being released through heating and cooling. Typical duct systems lose 25 to 40 percent of the heating or cooling energy⁵. That equates to 213 – 627.6 million metric tons of CO2 leaking out into the environment. Keep in mind that that number is pure waste! This translates in to about 806.68 billion kWh of electrical power per year using the DOE calculator (http://www.epa.gov/grnpower/pubs/calcmeth.htm)⁶.

1. U.S. Green Building Council Doubles Local LEED for Homes Network: Press Release. http://www.usgbc.org/News/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?ID=3585. Retrieved 03-31-08
2. See Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/carbon.html
3. See Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/carbon.html
4. U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “Energy Information Administration, 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey,” 2001
5. US Department of Energy. (1999). Improving the efficiency of your duct system.
6. (http://www.epa.gov/grnpower/pubs/calcmeth.htm)