News
APRIL 25, 2011
Quest Energy Report on Omniblock Performance
View the Full Test Report from Quest Energy
Quest Energy (www.questenergy.com) has completed an interesting and very important energy modeling study for us that I could not wait to share. The concept was requested by Mr Newsome at Stalite/Johnson Concrete that we have an energy modeling study comparing our 8 inch Omni Block single wyth construction measured against the prototypical Lowes Home and Building products stores. This same modeling could be used to compare Home Depot, Costco, Wal-Mart, and many other Big box stores.
Early notations to consider prior to review: Cost differences that were not taken into account include the higher cost of labor and materials laying a 12 inch CMU vs an 8 inch Omni CMU, the cost of the larger HVAC units required in the lower thermal performing walls that could be reduced to smaller less expensive units with the Omni Wall system, the higher R Factor achievable with Stalite as opposed to the mid-light weight mix design of a standard Omni Block, and other considerations other than purely R factor of our walls by design. The energy modeling study herein demonstrates the building of a big box store like Lowes in Richmond, VA and Charlotte NC, where all other constants remained equal and the analysis was to determine the cost savings of heating and air conditioning usage only by comparative R factor.
The summary: The Annual energy savings of heating and cooling using Omni Block in Richmond Va would be about $7,853.00 per year. Lowes are designed for a 30 year usage. That's a $235,590.00 savings. Again, this does not include other cost savings from building a single wyth 8x8x16 wall system vs 12 inch block and other factors mentioned above.
The annual energy savings of heating and cooling in Charlotte NC would be approximately $6562.00, a $196,860.00 savings ... again, not including the other factors listed above and the rising cost of energy.
The Quest energy modeling study shows that using Omni Block's 8" CMU single wyth construction would reduce the energy usage costs in Charlotte by 69%. This is promising and fantastic. It would be smart for Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart, and others that build with block to consider building with Omni Block.
