Real Numbers to Justify Your Building’s Critical Infrastructure
As you decide to invest in commercial HVAC systems and products, you may experience a familiar feeling: investment anxiety. The improvements you approve for your facility must meet your primary objectives, while also adding value that stretches beyond practical considerations.
This pressure is common among facility leaders from many industries. In a climate where facilities are constrained by budgets and competing priorities, every investment, including HVAC systems, needs to perform at its highest potential to justify the expense.
Fortunately, commercial HVAC is a multifaceted value-add for your business. The data behind the return on investment (ROI) for this infrastructure paints a picture of its far-reaching benefits. Your decision to invest in custom HVAC promises a measurable impact that is felt beyond cooled and heated air.
Commercial HVAC Contributes to High Energy-Efficiency ROIs
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that a decrease in energy consumption yields 6 to 9% in savings on annual costs. Energy-efficient offices saw a 2.3% increase in rental value in 2024. An energy efficiency initiative in the healthcare sector reported that hospitals experienced a 9% ROI after adopting efficiency measures.
The data on the returns from energy efficiency are significant, and your commercial building’s HVAC system plays a critical role. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) published a 12-page list of energy-efficiency measures that facilities can adopt. Two full pages dedicated to commercial HVAC systems speak volumes about how this infrastructure contributes to your energy-efficiency ROI.
Facilities can also work toward Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for infrastructure, including HVAC. LEED certification has its own ROIs that extend beyond energy savings, including increasing your building’s market value.
Managing Infection and Contamination With Commercial HVAC
Infection and contamination pose significant dangers to facilities with vulnerable assets and people. Industries such as healthcare, microchip fabrication, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and many others are at risk of financial losses due to microorganisms, dust, debris, and other particulates.
- Protecting your workforce: In a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report focused on the business case for infection prevention, researchers determined that hospital facilities can create accurate models of how infection prevention leads to cost-savings for their buildings.
- Protecting assets: The pharmaceutical industry is vulnerable to monumental losses associated with recalled products, facility closures, and litigation due to contamination.
To help your facility avoid financial losses, HVAC manufacturers design custom commercial HVAC products that provide infection and contamination control.
- Stainless steel components: Stainless steel is easy to clean and has antibacterial properties.
- HEPA and ULPA filters: Used in conjunction with HVAC products like fan filter units, these components are highly effective at filtering out extremely small bacteria, viruses, and other contaminant particles.
- Laminar flow diffusers: Laminar flow refers to the physics behind how filtered air is guided and directed toward a consistent location. Diffusers with laminar flow technology provide clean air precisely where it is required.
- Antimicrobial powder coating: HVAC products can be customized with powder coating as an additional protection against contamination.
When you adopt infection and contamination prevention measures through HVAC systems and products, the return on investment is measured by the losses your facility avoids.
Employee Retention
A commercial HVAC manufacturer that specializes in energy-efficient products plays a role in recruiting and retaining Millennial and Gen Z workers, who currently make up 49% of the workforce.
Gen Z and Millennial employees are particularly invested in companies that value sustainability. They’re also likely to switch jobs that don’t meet their needs. When statistics on employee attrition in the U.S. labor market point to losses of up to $2.6 million annually for a single 100-person organization, your commitment to modern employees matters.
A commercial HVAC system isn’t a direct recruitment tool, but its performance is a significant part of how you demonstrate your commitment to energy efficiency and incentivize your workforce.
Commercial HVAC Is a Strategic Lever for Your Facility
The added value that HVAC provides allows you to feel even more confident in your initiatives. Your commercial building’s HVAC system plays a central role in savings related to energy efficiency, effective operations, and risk mitigation, while providing ancillary support for initiatives like recruitment and retention.
When seeking a leading HVAC manufacturer for your facility, look to companies that recognize the versatility of their products and include features that support initiatives and yield measurable returns. Today’s best custom HVAC teams are interested in more than ventilation and indoor air quality. They know how to speak the language of business.