A Low Energy Whole House Ventilation System

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Residential and commercial)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Architecture and the Built Environment)

Not Cross-cutting

Dr M McEvoy
The Martin Centre
University of Cambridge

3

Carbon Trust

01 February 2005

31 January 2007

24 months

£148,501

East of England

Dr M McEvoy, The Martin Centre, University of Cambridge

Project Contact, Titon
Project Contact, Flagship Housing Group Ltd
Project Contact, Sententia Consulting
Project Contact, Howarth Timber Windows & Doors Ltd
Project Contact, Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd
Project Contact, Building Research Establishment (BRE) Limited

'Dwell-Vent' is a system that provides energy efficient ventilation of dwellings in winter while maintaining good indoor air quality. This project aims to make fullscale production of the system viable by raising awareness of its benefits, and encouraging builders and architects to use it in new dwellings.

The system uses 'supply air' windows as a heat recovery device to provide prewarmed air to rooms, passive stack vents to provide the driving pressure (removing the need for fans) and self-regulating ventilators to control the airflow levels. Carbon emissions are reduced because the windows have an excellent standard of insulation and, compared with other systems, less fuel is required to replace the heat lost through ventilation. Development of the manufacturing base for 'supply air' windows will be achieved by contacting potential manufacturing partners, placing articles in trade magazines and sending a newsletter to industry bodies. Essential reinforcement of the strategy will be to increase public awareness of the issues and arguments in favour of Dwell-Vent through local and national media. The initial market for the windows will be in public-sector housing - a small section of the annual new-build market. However, a successful trial in one housing association,in combination with the targeted dissemination to be carried out, should lead to a quick uptake in others. It is predicted that half of all public-sector housing will be using Dwell-Vent in 10 years, with 10% of private-sector penetration in the same time. A number of the flats and houses in the Norwich area being constructed by Flagship Housing Group are having the Dwell-Vent system installed. They will have a sufficiently large and diverse occupancy to gauge reactions to the system in relation to different lifestyles. The energy consumption of the houses and room temperatures will be monitored. Project data will be available at www.dwell-vent.com

01/01/07