Energy and ventilation management issues in U.S. pig buildings.

A recently completed Minnesota / National Pork Board (MPB/NPB) funded project entitled: Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Swine Buildings (Jacobson, et al., 2011), had the requirement to provide retrofit or remodeling guidelines to reduce energy use and the amount of air emissions for pig finishing buildings presently being used in the Midwestern U.S. Barn retrofit concepts reported in this document focus on structural upgrades such as insulation and mechanical items like improved environmental control, fan and heater maintenance and management, along with manure pit management. Also included are more extensive suggestions to improve pig performance through more effective cooling systems since most production losses due to poor housing systems occur during warm ambient conditions.