R E A L W O R L D R E S U LT S

Bates College Reduces Energy Waste and Carbon Emissions

with New Ever Green™ Cut ‘n Wrap™ Insulation Kits

B
ates College, located in Lewiston Maine, is widely
regarded as one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the
U.S. As such, it is very concerned about carbon neutrality
and embraces the philosophy of limiting carbon emissions.
When the opportunity arose to participate in a demonstration
project to test a new insulation product designed to help
reduce the cost of wasted energy and reduce carbon emissions,
Bates welcomed the idea. In the Spring of 2009, Auburn
Manufacturing, a leading developer of textile products for
extreme temperature industrial applications, installed its new
Ever Green™ Cut ‘n Wrap™ removable/reusable insulation
blankets, cut from insulation kits, on a wide range of steam pipe
fittings in the college’s Pettengill Hall.

Steam Pipe Fittings Rarely Insulated

While the piping in the college’s hot water distribution systems
is well insulated, the fittings generally are not, explained Alan
Kelley, Mechanical Services Manager at Bates. He acknowledged
that uninsulated fittings can be a significant source of energy
waste, but says installing covers on the fittings is both time-
consuming and difficult. “The reason fittings are left bare is that
the standard product for insulating them is expensive and just
plain difficult to deal with,” he said. “Once you wrap the blanket
around a valve you have to literally wire it on, which requires
special tools. When you need to remove it to make a repair or
fix a leak, it rarely gets put back on as it is such a pain to replace.”
Auburn Manufacturing, Inc. Develops an Easier
Way to Insulate Fittings
Similar stories like those of Bates’ Alan Kelley and other
managers of steam and hot water distribution piping systems
were the impetus for Auburn Manufacturing, Inc. (AMI)
developing a more effective way to insulate valves, flanges,
pipe fittings and other hard-to-get-to components. AMI has a
30-year history as a maker of textiles used in custom-made
removable flange and valve insulation pads. They recently
developed its patent-pending Ever Green™ Cut ‘n Wrap™
insulation kit. Each “kit” contains a 4 ft. x 8 ft. modularized
insulation cover and rolls of double sided hook and loop
fastener. The main difference between the new insulation cover
and other insulation blanket systems is the ease of installation.
“You simply measure and cut the insulated material to size,
wrap the exposed valve or fitting and secure with the supplied
self-sealing hook and loop attachment systems,” explains Kathie
Leonard, President and CEO of Auburn. “Installation takes only
minutes per valve or fitting. And, since they are reusable,
Cut ‘n Wrap blankets are ideal for those valves and fittings that
require periodic maintenance or inspection. We were able to
demonstrate through outside testing that heat loss can be
reduced by at least 85% and emissions by up to 1,000 lbs/sq.ft/yr
by using the kits.”
Bates College was founded in 1855. The campus has over 80 buildings
including this one, Pettengill Hall. Inside these walls, one will find
students taking courses in African American Studies, Anthropology,
Classical and Medieval Studies, Economics, Politics and Psychology.
Early Prototype Feedback Very Favorable
Kelley recalled the first time he saw the Cut ‘n Wrap product.
“It was in the very early stages of development, prior to the
demonstration project,” he said. “Auburn requested permission
to install an early prototype kit on a small section of a steam
line in our main steam plant. They were looking for our input;
they wanted to know how the product looked; how it felt; how
flexible it was; and would it meet our temperature needs. As it
turned out, it met all our needs.”
Auburn continued work on perfecting the Cut ‘n Wrap
insulation kit, manufacturing it from industrial-grade, coated
fabric and industrial-grade insulation media. Both materials are
rated for at least 500°F continuous service and were developed
to provide many years of effective thermal insulation. “The
thermal textiles we use to manufacture the product are
considered the safest in the industry,” said Auburn’s Leonard.
“They are used for some of the most extreme temperature
applications in the world.”
Bates Welcomes Demonstration Project
With the prototype kit in hand and in-house testing showing
that the insulation could easily and significantly reduce heat
loss, Auburn’s next step was to gather real-time data through an
actual on-site demonstration. Having already established a
relationship with Bates College, Auburn offered to install the
insulation kit, on a variety of valves and fittings. Kelley, who is
 Bates College Reduces Energy Waste and Carbon Emissions with New Ever Green™ Cut ‘n Wrap™ Insulation Kits
also a member of the college’s energy task force, welcomed the
idea and was eager to see how much savings could be realized.
The goal was to reduce the heat load on the space, reduce the
cost of wasted energy and to reduce the emission of carbon
dioxide gas, generally identified as a greenhouse gas.
Underground Mechanical Space Chosen For Site
The chosen mechanical space was located under Pettengill Hall,
an academic building housing classrooms, lounge spaces, and
offices. Once used as a bomb shelter, the underground
mechanical space had a collection of 230°F steam distribution
pipes including a large number of fittings such as valves,
flanges, valve stems, steam traps, pressure relief valves, and
strainers that were either partially uninsulated or uninsulated.
Prior to the Cut ‘n Wrap blanket installation, and due to the
enclosed nature of the space, and the additional heat loss from
the uninsulated fittings, the ambient air temperature ranged
from 97°F to 101°F during the heating season.
A team of representatives from AMI worked with two college
staff members to install the insulation. “The Auburn staff did
the first couple of wraps to show us how it was done,” said
Kelley. “They showed us how to cut the material so it didn’t
unravel and how to cut different shapes to get better coverage.
Installation was very easy and the total job took only about 3
hours.” Once the insulation was in place, Kelley said he noticed
an immediate change in the ambient temperature of the
mechanical space. “When the steam plant is running, the
temperature in the room is typically 10 to 15 degrees higher
than in other spaces,” he explained. “Even though the Cut ‘n
Wrap was installed in the spring, right on the cusp of when we
were about to shut down the system for the summer months, I
could feel a difference in the temperature. It was definitely
lower. We agreed to check the temperature again in the fall. We
were not disappointed. In fact, we just completed a post
installation room temperature reading after the system was
turned back on for the fall. The ambient temperature is now
82°F – a much safer and more workable environment.”
Estimated Savings and Reductions
While it was not possible to measure the actual reduction in heat
loss at the time because of the summer shutdown, Auburn was
able to calculate the estimated savings using a computer
program that incorporates ASTM C1129. It calculated that the
total heat load on the mechanical room would be reduced by
just over 48,000 BTUs per hour. At an assumed energy cost of
$10 per million BTUs, and an assumed operation for 30 weeks
per year, the Cut ‘n Wrap insulation was estimated to save Bates
Figure 1: A 6-inch valve
stem insulated with Ever
Green™ Cut ‘n Wrap™
insulation. This new
insulation is estimated to
reduce the heat load by
about 629 BTUs per hour,
the annual cost of lost of
energy by about $64, and
the emission of CO2 gas by
about 750 pounds per year.
34 Walker Road • P.O. Box 220 • Mechanic Falls, Maine 04256
T: 1-800-264-6689 • 207-345-8271 • F: 207-345-3380 • E-mail: sales@auburnmfg.com • www.auburnmfg.com
Figure 2: A steam trap,
and adjacent bare pipe,
recently insulated with
Ever Green™ Cut ‘n
Wrap™ insulation.
These insulation
materials are estimated
to reduce space heat
load by about 67 BTU
per hour, equivalent to
an annual cost of about $36 each. Each of these now insulated steam traps
is estimated to reduce the annual CO2 emissions by about 100 pounds.
College about $4,000 per year in unnecessary fuel expenses.
The savings were estimated to reduce emissions by about 20 tons,
primarily as less
CO2. If Bates REAL WORLD SAVINGS
had purchased Annual Heat Loss Savings: $4,000
the Ever Green
Cut ‘n Wrap Annual CO2 Emission Reductions: 20 Tons
materials, the Estimated Payback: 10 Months
cost would have
been approximately $3,400, not including installation labor.
Compared to the value of the energy savings, this would represent
a simple payback of about 10 months.
Bates Considering Cut ‘n Wrap For Another Project
Because of the success of the demonstration project, Bates is
considering using the Cut ‘n Wrap insulation inside its steam
vaults, which are tanks buried underground allowing access to
steam pipes and isolation valves when work is need on a particular
section. “Our energy task force has a certain amount of money this
year that we can allocate for energy savings type projects and this
is one of the items on our list,” said Kelley. “In order to save
money these days, you need to invest a little money. And, when
you run the calculations, the payback with insulation is very quick.
It’s one of those ‘no-brainer’ kind of things.”
What impressed Kelley most about the Cut ‘n Wrap insulation
was how easy it was to install. “I would put that feature near the
top of the list,” he said. “It’s difficult to get people to do things
if the job is cumbersome. They tend to be less inclined to
spend the effort even though they want to save energy. If you
can make it easy, and Cut ‘n Wrap does that, then everything
just works better.”
Demonstration Project Funded by Seed Grant
Early in 2009, Auburn Manufacturing was awarded a Seed Grant
from the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) to develop and fund
demonstration projects in steam and hot water distribution
systems including universities, hospitals and public buildings.
MTI is a state-funded nonprofit corporation that offers early-
stage capital and commercialization assistance for the research
and development of innovative technology-based projects that
create new products, processes and services, generating high-
quality jobs across Maine. AMI used its two most recent MTI
grants to validate the technology behind Ever Green Cut ’n Wrap
with independent testing and to conduct several demonstration
projects resulting in a patent application and initial
commercialization of the product.