Air_plus

The costs involved, consisting of additional planning, installation, maintenance (filter replacement, cleaning, fire protection) and operating costs (increased electricity consumption), are currently an obstacle for housing developers to invest in higher-quality ventilation systems. From their point of view, they bear no relation to final energy savings and customer satisfaction.

In recent years, however, there has been a consensus among experts to install a comfort or similar high-quality ventilation system in order to maximise air volumes and achieve the highest possible air quality in the flats for reasons of energy savings in heating requirements and comfort. In the meantime, however, it has become apparent that the use of systems to provide maximum indoor air quality has not led to the goal of getting more and more energy-efficient ventilation systems into the refurbishment of residential buildings in the long term.

The aim is therefore to develop simple, affordable, energy- and resource-efficient ventilation systems for the refurbishment of residential buildings. These use less material and are easy to install, maintain and clean. They utilise the waste heat from the room air, provide moisture protection and ensure a minimum level of indoor air quality and comfort while remaining cost-effective over their service life.

Methodology

1. research into existing alternative ventilation systems, advantages and disadvantages, key figures and evaluation, data summarisation, definition of reference systems with benchmarks, creation of criteria for new and further developments

2. development of simple ventilation systems, new components, further optimisation - alternative system solutions, incorporation of the evaluation

3. assessment and evaluation of promising systems by means of simulations (for a selected reference room) and laboratory tests (in an existing climate cabin), LCA and LCC analysis

Expected results

Specifically, at least 3 alternative ventilation systems with waste heat utilisation or heat recovery should be developed and described for the residential building renovation market. They will be compared with three existing state-of-the-art reference ventilation systems. To this end, simulations and laboratory measurements will be carried out, particularly for thermal comfort, draught risk and, where applicable, air quality (for reference rooms).

The new mechanical ventilation systems are LCA and LCC assessed. The detailed results generated from the project are intended to provide added value for issues relating to other mechanical ventilation systems and solutions in residential buildings, for example for comfort ventilation.