CFD Study Confirms Fabric Ducts Are More Efficient Than Metal Ducts


Fabric Duct Example

Indoor air comfort includes a measure of how fast and how uniformly a HVAC system can reach a desired temperature. Fabric ducts were known to heat rooms faster and more uniformly than metal ducts but some doubt remained as to their efficiency. The CFD study included transient simulations over a extensive range of conditions. The large energy efficiency gain for fabric ducts over metal ducts was a welcome surprise to some in the fabric duct industry.

It appears that this study confirms a bright future for fabric ducts as part of the quest to improve building energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and address global warming.


Fabric vs metal or diffusers vs strategically place holes?

Is this a study of fabric vs metal or diffusers vs. strategically place holes? If they wanted to compare fabric versus metal, why not use strategically placed holes for both systems?

The advantage with fabric

The advantage with fabric ducts is that it is possible to produce many outlet holes economically.
It is not economical to do that with metal, and so it is not available.