The German magazine Technische Isolierung (TI) published, in its February 2023 issue, an article about TIPCHECK written by EiiF Foundation Director Andreas Guertler.
Please read the translated article below.
TIPCHECK - If not now, when?
Three out of four clients invest after a TIPCHECK energy audit.
Feedback from our TIPCHECK community shows a clear trend: "Here we go!"
TIPCHECK clients who hesitated to invest three years ago - when energy price was well under 3 Euro cents - are now getting in touch, shocked by the prospect that they will have to pay at least three times as much for their energy in the future.
Let’s consider a brief calculation example of an automotive supplier who burns 25 million kWh of gas every year. In the past, he expected to pay around 3 cents (in fact, he paid even less), but next year he has to spend at least 10 cents per kilowatt hour. So, from 2024 onwards, instead of 750.000 EUR per year, he will have to budget around 2.5 million EUR for gas purchases. On top of that will come the CO2 costs of around 80 EUR per metric tonne. Roughly estimated - using the new TIPCHECK estimation function (see Chart 1) - he could save at least 400.000 kWh per year and around 50.000 EUR by upgrading his technical insulation systems to energy class C according to VDI 4610:
Chart 1: Energy savings potential of insulation: Energy Class C
Around 260.000 kWh and around 30.000 EUR could be immediately saved by insulating uninsulated equipment and repairing damaged insulation. Before the rise in energy prices the payback periods were still around 2 years, now they are only a few months in most cases. It is no surprise that the client feedback follows the same trend: in the more than 2.500 TIPCHECKs to date, three out of four clients subsequently invested in the proposed insulation solution, and next year this figure is likely to move further in the direction of “four out of four” clients.
And our members have also recognized that now is the "TIPCHECK hour." In the last TIPCHECK training (December 2022), there were 17 participants from Germany and Austria - a new record number of participants. Worldwide, EiiF has trained more than 100 active TIPCHECK engineers and our active members are well prepared for the new, increasing demand.
For the insulation companies who either do not yet have any TIPCHECK engineers in their own ranks or want to get additional employees certified, we are already offering training in 2023 in the first and second quarters. Early registration is strongly recommended, and so that no one feels like "buying a pig in a poke", we are happy to present the contents of the TIPCHECK training below.
Duration: Monday from 10 a.m. until Friday 12 p.m.
Participation fee: 2.500 EUR
Training location: FIW Munich, Lochhamer Schlag 4, Gräfelfing (near Munich)
Minimum qualification: At least 2 years of professional experience and an engineering degree or relevant qualification
Training course description:
The participants learn the basics of heat and cold calculations in a practical and sequential way; the execution of a TIPCHECK in 4 steps; an introduction to thermography and the different insulation materials and their fields of application, and they will be trained to use TIPCHECK tools developed by EiiF. In addition, there will be an exchange of experiences with the other participants as well as EiiF trainers Andreas Regel, Luis López Brunner and Andreas Gürtler, and the experts of FIW Munich Roland Schreiner and Karin Wiesemeyer. The training programme, which has been developed and continuously refined over more than 10 years, ensures that after one week of training, each participant has already gained practical experience and, in principle, has already performed his or her first TIPCHECK and can take it home with them.
Example of a TIPCHECK training day:
EiiF's next TIPCHECK trainings at FIW Munich:
6 - 10 March 2023 (German)
8 - 12 May 2023 (English)
Interested parties can contact EiiF directly at tipcheck@eiif.org or by phone: +41 22 99 500 70.
Click on the link below to see the article in the TI magazine
