Saving time and cost while delivering a superior solution – those were the qualities that earned PanelDuct the overall Irish Times Innovation Award for 2015. The company's novel ventilation ducting system addressed a problem that had existed for many years.

Ventilation ducting systems have traditionally been made of galvanised metal which is typically quite bulky, costs a lot to deliver and requires significant storage space on-site. Among the issues associated with this solution are the fact that it is assembled off-site and delivered in quite bulky units on the back of a truck. Furthermore, it has to be insulated on-site following installation and, if it is an exterior location such as the roof of a building, it then has to be weatherproofed in a further stage of the process.

This all makes for a very costly, labour-intensive and time- consuming process – high assembly and delivery costs with three sets of on-site tasks involving three separate crews.

The PanelDuct solution eliminates two of these tasks by offering a modular product which can be assembled easily on-site. The system comprises prefabricated and pre-insulated galvanised steel panels that are clipped together on-site to form the ducting systems. This means there is no post-installation insulation or weatherproofing work required. It also means the system comes in flat-pack form making it far easier and cheaper to transport.

Unique

“What we are doing is unique”, says PanelDuct 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 required to complete the installation of the ducting only one is needed with the PanelDuct system.”

The system also boasts considerable energy efficiency advantages. 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 containment but also in terms of energy and other savings.

The system is also inherently recyclable. According to O’Neill, when traditional ventilation systems are being replaced or redesigned the ducting sections have to be thrown out. 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.

In common with many innovations, the PanelDuct system arose out of direct experience. In this case, the experience of PanelDuct parent company Walsh Mechanical Engineering. "We had become frustrated with the problems presented by traditional ductwork", O'Neill explains.

“On one occasion we couldn’t get the ducting to fit through a narrow entrance in a building and had to get a crane to lift it up on to the roof. We thought that a flat pack solution would be better and looked around to see if there were pre-insulated flat-pack systems available. We found that none existed and having identified that unmet need we decided to meet it ourselves. PanelDuct was established specifically to develop the solution.”

The system first came to market in mid-2014 and demand has been very strong both from within Ireland and overseas. Indeed, the design features of the PanelDuct solution offer distinct advantages when it comes to exporting. Sales director Brian Mulhare points to a contract for the ductwork for a data centre in Sweden which the company won earlier this year.

Satisfy overseas demand

“The ductwork was shipped out in three road containers whereas 14 would have been required if a traditional ductwork system was to be despatched for this project. The speed of installation was also very important to the customer in this particular case.

“This demonstrates our ability to satisfy overseas demand for our innovative patented product regardless of distance from our production plant in County Mayo.”

That production facility is currently being moved to a new 40,000sq ft building in Castlebar due to the demand for the innovative PanelDuct systems and delivery has already been taken of a unique panel-bending machine which has been imported from Italy.

"The Trumpf TruBend 5030 Panel Bender is the most advanced state-of-the-art panel bender on the market," says Mulhare. "Trumpf is one of the world's biggest providers of machine tools and the TruBend 5030 was introduced to the market for the first time last year as their flagship product.

“The machine cost over half a million euro and is equipped with tooling specifically required to create panels with the patented PanelDuct interlocking profiles.

“The new machine has the capability to make the panels from galvanised steel, aluminium or stainless steel, in a range of sizes required for insulated panel thicknesses from 25mm to 50mm. The level of speed and automation of the bending machine is unprecedented in the industry, which enables us to produce the panels at a much lower operating cost compared with traditional ductwork.”

Looking to the future, Mulhare believes 2016 will see strong sales growth. “With the new plant shortly to be fully operational we will be able to meet the very significant demand which already exists for the PanelDuct system.

“Our increased production capacity and lower operating costs will also allow us to market the product much more aggressively further driving up sales in the coming year.”