Post Consumer plastic bottles help Prihoda Recycled fabric ducts to provide a breath of fresh air!

WILMINGTON, Del. - Oct. 16, 2013 - PRLog -- Every 4 seconds the US alone throws away 6,000 plastic bottles, of which only about 20%-30% are recycled. Staggering statistics indeed, but attacking our waste problems may be easier if more companies offered truly sustainable products. Prihoda North America is one of those companies as it now offers an HVAC duct made from 100% post consumer recycled bottles made from polyester yarn by Repreve. Fabric ducts (commonly known as duct socks or air sox) have been known to be “green” due to their increased efficiency from even air dispersion proven by CFD testing and the fact that many fabric duct suppliers can claim a percentage of recycled content in the polyester and aluminum track. However, now Architects and Mechanical Engineers can specify an HVAC duct that is 100% recycled from 100% post consumer materials. This will help bolster a project’s Post-Consumer recycled content needed for LEED points, improve indoor air quality and comfort while also being a smart choice for our planet.

Repreve (a division of the US based yarn producer UNIFI) takes used, post consumer water bottles and up cycles them into a new polyester yarn which Prihoda then uses to make its recycled fabric ductwork and diffusers from. Not only does this product divert plastic water bottles from the landfill, it is also less resource intensive to produce by significantly lowering water consumption, energy consumption and it emits fewer greenhouse gases during the production process. Repreve has been certified by SCS Global Services so that customers can be sure it is not a “green washed” product but a transparent, certifiably sustainable material that is made responsibly. The end result is a yarn and fabric that is every bit as high quality as a virgin polyester, but provides the Earth with a much needed reprieve.

Other built in features of this material correspond with our current line up of our standard PMI material:

Fire retardant and UL classified & ULC listed - air distribution device UL2518 (meeting UL723 / NFPA90a)

Antimicrobial (meeting test standard ISO 20645)

Non-shedding can be used in ISO 4 clean rooms (test standard ISO 14644-1)

High strength, warp 1880 / weft 1090N (test standard ISO 136934-1)

Available in all flow models : high thrownozzles to low velocity laminar flow micro perforations

Machine washable- ability to quickly and easily restore to its original hygienic state

Innovative low pressure loss flow straighteners and elbows

Many suspension options – Track, cable, and reinforcement options to always keep duct round

“We didn’t want to simply meet what other fabric duct manufacturers and suppliers were currently offering” says Founder and Managing Director Zdenek Prihoda “We chose to partner with Repreve to set an example for our industry and lead the way to make truly sustainable products more mainstream.”

Prihoda has continued to challenge itself to provide new and innovative products for the fabric air duct industry since the company’s inception in 1994. Microperforation, for instance, was Prihoda’s way of challenging the industry standard of using many porosities of fabric to achieve low velocity air distribution. Microperforating a fabric with a laser allows for any porosity to be custom made from one fabric to meet any project requirement and it will not clog with dust and debris as quickly as a woven high porosity material does.

When the 100% post consumer Repreve material concept was presented to Prihoda’s Export and Sales Manager, Paul Russon, he responded by saying “This is truly what the Green initiative is about, the bottles should not be in the ground, they should be in our ducts!”  The bottle count is a prominent feature of Repreve, just 1 square yard of Prihoda Recycled fabric saves (11) 16oz bottles from the landfill. Every Prihoda recycled duct will have a tag letting the customer know how many bottles were rescued and reused. Fabric ducts gained popularity by being a wallet friendly, cost effective alternative to sheet metal ducts with grilles & registers, but now are an eco friendly alternative as well.

http://www.prihoda.com

http://www.repreve.com/

http://www.prihoda.com/us/post-consumer-recycled-content-fabric-duct