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HawkeyePedershaab Thermal

AeroView Services provides thermal inspections using a state-of-the-art infrared camera specifically designed for UAVs. The infrared camera is accurate to within 1 degree Fahrenheit. With this setup (see photo, below, showing the infrared camera attached to our DJI Matrice 600), we are able to quickly inspect large rooftop areas and access areas that a person on foot wouldn't be able to safely or efficiently reach.

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HawkeyePedershaab, a global leader in the concrete pipe machinery industry, has the goal of preventing problems before they become big problems, to reduce downtime and cost, and to ensure the safety of their employees.

For this reason, HawkeyePedershaab came to AeroView Services to have us perform a thermal inspection of their office and manufacturing facilities with the goal being to locate roof leaks in their membrane roofs as well determine if there was heat loss from pedestrian and drive-through doors.

Roof Inspection

 

The thermal inspection of the roof was performed in the early evening shortly after sunset. If a thermal inspection is performed during the day while the sun is out, it is much more difficult to identify leaks as the sun tends to uniformly heat up everything exposed to its rays. However, as the sun sets and things begin to cool, wet spots will actually cool down at a slower rate due to the higher specific heat of water.

 

AeroView's certified thermographers were able to determine several likely roof leaks during this brief time-frame when the hot spots became much more obvious to identify. We discovered leaks around a drain in the office building roof and heavily concentrated next to the entrance atrium where there is a transition in the roof (see photo below). These warranted a physical roof inspection.

Also, while inspecting the roof for leaks, we noticed significant heat loss from one of the manufacturing buildings. This particular building had a lean-to added to it and the transition between the buildings was very poorly sealed and insulated.

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While the temperature of the roof was measuring around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, the transition between the buildings measured between 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit (see photo, below).

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It was obvious that this heat loss resulted in a significant increase in HawkeyePedershaab's utility bill.

Overhead Doors

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Another area of concern for HawkeyePedershaab was heat loss through the overhead doors. Due to forklift and material handling traffic, overhead doors were frequently opened and closed throughout the day. Two styles of overhead doors are used at HawkeyePedershaab, a traditional metal overhead door and a fabric roll-up style.

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The thermal image of the traditional metal overhead door (see below, right) shows the significant heat loss on the door seals near the top and around the perimeter of the door. However, the door itself demonstrates good insulation properties.

Conversely, the fabric roll-up door on the left, while sealed much better around the perimeter than the metal overhead door, shows very poor insulation properties.

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Deliverables

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Upon completion of the thermal inspection, AeroView Services provided HawkeyePedershaab with a thermal inspection report detailing all findings and areas of concerns. AeroView's certified thermographers review every infrared photo to assemble the reports. In addition to the report, a high resolution ortho photo of the entire facility was given to HawkeyePedershaab. On the ortho photo, 

all areas of concern were geolocated on the orthophoto, allowing HawkeyePedershaab to easily find roof leaks with a hand held GPS unit.

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Armed with the results of the thermal inspection report, HawkeyePedershaab was able to fix the identified roof leaks and insulate areas of heat loss, resulting in a significant savings to their utility bill and preventing further damage to the interior of their facilities.

 

Now is a good time to consider the timely preventative maintenance a thermal inspection provides to both save on utility bills and prevent any interior damage due to roof leaks in your facility. If you would like a quotation or have questions on a thermal inspection for your facility, please feel free to contact us.

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