A Unified Front: Inside the Standards Powering Compressed Air Systems

By The Analysts | Thought Leadership | Compressed Air Standards | System Assessments

Over the past couple of days, we’ve sat in a room with around 20 passionate individuals revisiting the international standard for testing the performance of compressors. The discussions were lively, technical, and, at times, passionate. The focus was on achieving perfection in testing methodology, but I couldn't help thinking about the overwhelming pride in our industry: we are all passionate about improving our industry in different ways, and together we find the most success!

The Role of Testing Standards

Creating consistent, transparent, and fair testing protocols is important. It ensures comparability between compressor manufacturers and sets a foundation for truth in performance claims. And the level of care and collaboration shown by OEMs this week was impressive; they’re clearly invested in getting this right. We can personally assure end-users, resellers, installers, engineers, architects, and technicians that this group of men and women are passionately driving standards like we have never seen before.

But here’s the thing: international standards are only part of what is needed for sustainability in the compressed air industry.

Across industrial sites, we see it time and time again: 50–70% of compressed air is lost, misused, or wasted. So, who else is required? The truth is, you couldn’t recreate these test conditions in a real plant if your life depended on it. This will be a group effort!  We need to sell the right units with the right controls. We need to properly engineer the system.  Our installations should be on point. Our systems need to be properly maintained. We need to permanently monitor the entire system. This is why The Analysts create teams of professionals to serve our customers. We know that we are all in this together. #MoreMindsBetterResults

Compressed Air Is Power - and It's Often Ignored

One thing that wasn’t discussed enough (if at all) was the role compressed air plays in a facility’s overall power consumption. It’s not just another utility; it’s often one of the largest, most misunderstood consumers of electricity on site. Yet it rarely gets the attention it deserves in decarbonization or energy planning conversations.

Once these compressors leave the lab environments, we need to address how these machines function in the chaos of real-world demand. We need to look beyond the machine and examine the system, from supply to demand, leaks to legacy design choices. There should be not limits!

What was Inspiring

The men and women in this room are brilliant, wonderful, and consummate professionals.  They pushed us to think about what it means to be precise vs. practical. They reminded us that there are people who care deeply about the integrity of this industry. And that alignment is possible - even if our passions lie in different places.

There was a shared goal in the room: accuracy, consistency, improvement. That’s a powerful foundation.  

The Path Forward: Harmonizing Standards and Systems Thinking

One takeaway from these discussions is the importance of harmonizing practices—not just across manufacturers, but across regions, and ideally across disciplines. Standards need to evolve in a way that considers how systems truly operate. Compressed air systems need to be pulled out of the shadows and into the strategic conversations around decarbonization, resilience, and reliability.

We have work to do, after all, the compressed air system extends from before the air compressor until it is vented back to atmosphere.

Call to Action:

If you’re passionate about decarbonization, energy efficiency, and meaningful change in industrial environments, it’s time to stop looking at just the compressors and start looking at the compressed air system holistically. Let’s start designing solutions that reflect the reality of how compressed air is used, and misused, every day. Let’s bring data, awareness, and real-world impact into the spotlight.

Want to explore your plants potential and see how much we can shave off? Call us today.

Written by Analysts – Advocates for smarter compressed air, system efficiency, and sustainable industrial operations.