Two Commercial Heat Pipe Technology Installations Yield Dramatic ROI, Carbon Reduction, & Ongoing Energy Savings

Gainesville, FL – February 1, 2012 – Heat Pipe Technology, Inc., (HPT) a division of MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company (nyse: brk-a, nyse: brk-b), today announced that two recent commercial implementations of the Company’s passive dehumidification systems have yielded extraordinary return on investments, carbon reduction, and ongoing energy savings.  Both Heat Pipe Technology implementations were for manufacturers that require super-low-humidity environments for pharmaceutical production (GlaxoSmithKline) and for the manufacture of high-quality optical lenses.

In the case of GlaxoSmithKline, Heat Pipe Technology’s passive energy recovery and dehumidification systems were installed on an HVAC system serving a 225,000-square-foot plant with a 1,000-ton chilled water loop and a 400-ton chiller.  A processing area within the plant requires a maximum relative humidity of 50% at 72°F.  To maintain that humidity level, GlaxoSmithKline must extract an extraordinary amount of moisture from the ambient air, which was initially accomplished by lowering the temperature of the chiller loop to a setpoint of 39°F.  Additional dehumidification was obtained by overcooling the supply air and then reheating it, a very energy-intensive process. With Heat Pipe Technology, GlaxoSmithKline was able to raise the chiller loop setpoint, saving the company $26,000 per year in energy costs.  The direct CO2 reduction is estimated at 65 metric tonnes, per year, with direct and indirect CO2 reduction of 164 metric tonnes. GlaxoSmithKline estimated that direct payback of the Heat Pipe Technology system was just 1.6 years.

In the case of the optical lens maker, the manufacturing process required an extraordinarily low 40% relative humidity. With the Heat Pipe Technology implementation, the company was about to reduce its chilled water requirements by 11 tonnes, at a savings of $8,000/year. The company also saw a “reheat phase” energy reduction of 15%, for a $20,000/year savings. The combined $28,000 savings is enough to pay back the Heat Pipe Technology implementation within one year, to say nothing of ongoing $28,000/year savings.

“Heat pipe technology can bring dramatic savings to a wide range of HVAC systems, not just to commercial manufacturing,” said HPT’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Mazen Awad.  “If you suspect you are spending too much on energy to condition the air in your building or plant, Heat Pipe Technology has energy modeling software that can illustrate our potential savings, so you can examine a heat pipe implementation virtually with a high degree of confidence for its success.”

About Heat Pipe Technology

Heat Pipe Technology is the innovation leader in passive energy recovery and dehumidification systems for commercial applications around the globe.  Employing the very latest in passive-heat-transfer technology, Heat Pipe Technology designs and supplies the core energy recovery technologies to the world’s leading commercial air-handling equipment manufacturers.  More info: www.heatpipe.com.

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Media Contact:
John D. Wagner
919-796-9984