What exactly lies beneath the surface of the cost iceberg behind a ventilation system, and why do most of these elements never factor into the decision-making process? Where do the expenses that nobody plans for actually come from?
10% on the Invoice, 90% in the Shadows
The purchase and installation of an HVAC system (CAPEX) typically accounts for only about 10% of its total lifetime operating cost — yet it’s precisely at this stage that the decisions are made which determine how many further costs the system will generate, and over what timeframe. This is usually where buyers look for savings, but every penny saved here can, over the long run, become a crack through which far larger sums quietly leak away.
The remaining 90% — energy consumption, servicing, filter replacements, downtime, and the costs stemming from indoor air quality’s impact on people and processes — is spread across years of operation and rarely makes it into a spreadsheet at the tender stage. In the first episode of Iceberg Talks, we spoke with Mr. Ferhat Gürer about the filter itself. This time, we look at what else — beyond filter selection — makes this cost iceberg so large, and so well hidden.
Three Areas Left Out of the Calculation
A conversation with experts from Hollingsworth & Vose points to three areas that rarely make it into the initial cost calculation, yet have the greatest impact on a system’s total cost of ownership (TCO):
Environmental regulations and energy prices. Rising electricity costs go hand in hand with increasingly stringent energy-efficiency regulations for ventilation systems. This is no longer just a matter of the power bill — it’s also the risk of non-compliance, as requirements tighten faster than most buildings can adapt to them.
Design errors with years-long consequences. Decisions made at the design stage — fan sizing, ductwork layout, a filtration class chosen “by eye” — don’t disappear once the system goes live. On the contrary: they generate cost consequences that follow the installation throughout its entire service life, consequences that can no longer be cheaply corrected.
The pandemic as a turning point in IAQ thinking. For years, indoor air quality (IAQ) was treated as an extra — something “nice to have” rather than an investment priority. The conversation shows how lastingly this shifted the thinking of investors and facility managers, moving IAQ from the margins to one of the key criteria in OPEX planning.
How Do You Calculate the Real Cost of Air Quality?
H&V’s experts combine hard data — energy consumption, service frequency, component lifespan — with a less obvious but very real cost: the impact of air quality on the health, comfort, and productivity of the people occupying the building. Bringing these two perspectives together makes it possible to realistically estimate how much a given design decision actually costs — or saves.
Nanowave: A New Variable in the Cost Equation
Nanowave technology isn’t just another argument about lower airflow resistance — that ground was already covered extensively in the first episode. The point here is how this new generation of filter media fits into the broader cost picture described above: lower regulatory risk, fewer corrections stemming from design errors, and a real, increasingly measurable — not just felt — contribution to air quality.
Why It Pays to Look Below the Waterline
The takeaway from this conversation aligns with what we heard from Mr. Ferhat Gürer in the first episode of ICEBERG COSTS, though it approaches the problem from a different angle: it’s no longer just about filter selection, but about how energy, regulations, design errors, and an organization’s approach to IAQ together shape the cost iceberg of every installation. Managing these factors consciously, starting at the design stage, is the only way to meaningfully reduce costs across the system’s entire life cycle.
The Iceberg Costs Tool — Uncover Your Installation’s Hidden Costs
What do the costs in your installation actually look like? The specialized Iceberg Costs questionnaire provides a structured way to gather data about your system and calculate the real cost distribution across its life cycle.
This tool doesn’t work like a generic self-service form — that’s a deliberate design choice. HVAC system data is too complex and too specific to each installation to be reliably analyzed without expert input. That’s why the Iceberg Costs questionnaire is completed jointly — in an online or in-person meeting — by an SFM specialist working together with the client.
What does the process look like?
- Inquiry — the client contacts SFM Filtry through sfm.pl or the campaign landing page, iceberg.rect.pl.
- Meeting with an expert — an SFM consultant schedules an online or in-person conversation with the client. Together, they work through the questionnaire, filling it in with real installation data: system parameters, filtration class, energy costs, replacement frequency, and other key operational figures.
- Analysis — based on the data collected, SFM prepares an individual cost analysis showing the full breakdown of expenses across the installation’s life cycle, along with the areas where they can realistically be reduced.
- Results review — the SFM expert returns to the client with the completed analysis. Together, they discuss the findings and recommendations for filter selection, with the shared goal of finding a solution that genuinely lowers the installation’s operating costs.