LEED Building Techniques and Built to Last Small Duct HVAc Systems by Unico Carried by Unique Indoor Comfort Libertyville

1. Unico is proud to be a corporate member of
the U.S. Green Building Council and all that they support.
Unico is proud to a partner with the Make It Right foundation and their efforts to
build Affordable LEED Platinum homes for the families in the lower 9th ward in
New Orleans, LA.
Built to Last is sponsored by Unico, Inc, makers of the environmentally-friendly small-duct/
high-velocity HVAC Unico System. Unico – serving residential and commercial
customers around the corner, and around the globe, for more than 25 years.
Unico is a proud corporate sponsor of the National Trust for Historic Preservations and
supports the efforts of National Trust’s Preservation Green Lab . The Green Lab seeks to
minimize carbon impacts from the built environment through direct emissions reductions
from building retrofits and reuse, and to conserve character-rich and human-scale
communities that attract people to more sustainable, urban living patterns.
LEED® and HVAC
How Unico Can Help
Sustainable Building with Small Duct High Velocity
www.unicosystem.com UNICO, Inc.
“The Unico System” “Unico, Inc.”
Resonance House,
LEED Silver 2008
Beach House Retrofit,
LEED Platinum 2011
Frank Gehery Design,
LEED Platinum 2012
The Green Home,
Registered LEED Platinum 2013
UNICO, Inc.
7401 Alabama Avenue
Saint Louis, MO 63111
800.527.0896
fax 314.457.9000
www.unicosystem.com

2. According to the USGBC, the LEED® building
methodology is an integrative effort to
transform the way homes are designed, built
and utilized. The practice starts at the earliest
stages of planning to well beyond the end of
the structures life. It involves everyone in the
supply chain and is changing the way we think about
the homes that we build today.
The LEED® for Homes Rating System encompasses
8 categories that are used to determine the overall
rating of a home and in turn the level of LEED®
certification the home can attain. They are:
• Innovation & Design (ID)
• Location & Linkag
• Sustainable Sites (SS)
• Water Efficiency (WE)
• Energy and Atmosphere (EA)
• Materials and Resources (MR)
• Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ)
• Awareness & Education (AE)
The LEED for Homes Rating System requires that
all homes meet a minimum level of performance,
the mandatory prerequisites that are part of the ID,
SS, EA, MR, EQ, and AE categories, and also reward
additional points for improved performance. The
rating system is also designed such that strategies in
one category relate to strategies in another category.
One should note that the Energy and Atmosphere
category has the single highest total potential point
value achievable of 38 LEED points and the Indoor
Environmental Quality category has the greatest
number of required Prerequisites which is seven.
As is evident on the following page, Unico’s Small
Duct High Velocity (SDHV) heating, ventilation and
air conditioning (HVAC) products have the greatest
impact on the Energy and Atmosphere and Indoor
Air Quality categories.
Recent studies have shown that people spend, on
average, as much as 90% of their time indoors.
Because of this, and the fact that LEED certified
homes are being built tighter than ever before, indoor
air quality is of extreme importance. Also, figures
show that 45% of the energy consumed by the home
is used to heat and cool the structure. Both of these
factors are directly linked to EA and EQ categories and
directly rely upon how well the homes HVAC systems
perform as well.
In an effort to help explain how Unico can contribute
to a home receiving LEED points, the chart on the
right shows the different categories, along with a brief
description for each credit, as to how we help satisfy
the requirement for the credit. All this is due to the
features of our Green Series air handler with Software
Managed Air Rate Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) provides
the energy efficient technology needed for today’s
sustainable homes. Several of these features are:
• Variable speed fan technology on the indoor unit
that can be combined with multiple- stage capacity
outdoor units which can provide fan power savings
and enhanced comfort
• Ability to be combined with a zoned damper system
to provide individual zone control
• Ability to be combined with ERVs, HRVs, humidifiers,
dehumidifiers
• Unico duct work is engineered to acheive average
duct leakage of 1% to 3% maximum
• The effects of aspiration provide less temperature
stratification
• Ability to function normally when required to work
with 100% outdoor fresh air
• Lower volume of airflow across the coil removes
30% more relative humidity from the air stream
• Smaller duct work makes it easier to incorporate the
ductwork into the houses insulated envelope with
out the need for drop ceilings or additional chases
Residential Split System
Unico Products – Contributions to LEED Certification
EA 1: Optimize Energy Performance (Max points 34)
Units can be used in the HERS software program to calculate score.
EA 11.2: Appropriate HVAC Refrigerants (1 Point)
Units use HFC refrigerant 410A – no CFCs.
MR 1.4: Framing Efficiencies (Max points 3)
Unico’s small duct size allows the builder to incorporate the ductwork into the existing framing
structure when advanced framing techniques are used and does not require additional
chases or drop ceilings which would require additional lumber to enclose ductwork.
EQ 1: EPA indoor airPLUS (13 Points)
Air handlers and air delivery systems meet all the qualifications for EPA indoor airPLUS program.
EQ 3: Moisture Control (1 Point)
Because of our larger coil, but more importantly the lower volume of air across the coil, we
will remove up to 30% more humidity from the air than a standard air handler.
EQ Prerequisite 4.1: Basic Outdoor Air Ventilation
Air handlers have the ability to work with 100% outdoor air and can meet ASHRAE 62.2 standard.
EQ 4.2: Enhanced Outdoor Air Ventilation (2 Points)
Air handlers have the ability to work with 100% outdoor air and can meet ASHRAE 62.2 standard.
EQ 7.2 & 7.3: Better Filters (1 Point) and Best Filters (2 Points)
Air handlers have the ability to work with ≥ MERV 10 (Better Filters) and ≥ MERV 13 (Best Filters)
without the need to oversize the air handler/BTU’s or the supply and return duct.
EQ 8.1: Indoor Contaminant Control during Construction (1 Point)
Unico ductwork is 1/3 the size of conventional ductwork and is easier to seal to prevent contamination.
AE 1.2: Enhanced Training (1 Point)
Unico provides training material on the HVAC system for the builder to use during homeowner training.
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