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Energy Efficiency
Introduction - the importance of an organised ventilation system
... or the reasons or creating air vents ater insulating a building.It is sometimes diicult to understand why buildings need to be insulated… only or new openings to be made to letin resh air.Rational use o energy (RUE) aims to ensure that occupants are comortable and energy consumption is controlled.It is diicult to apply these two principles in older buildings. Flows o air rom the outside are entirely uncontrollable(in terms o quantity, temperature, direction and duration) and vary widely depending on atmospheric conditions:ventilation in some rooms is insuicient whilst in others there is too much ventilation. By contrast, organisedventilation (i.e. intentional ventilation as opposed to natural inlows o air) provides the right quantity o air requiredby occupants, thus limiting energy consumption to the minimum required whilst also guaranteeing air quality.Yet, the better insulated buildings are, the greater the proportion o heat lost through ventilation in relationto the total consumption. Ventilation, thereore, becomes a major item to be controlled i the overall consumptiono the building is to be brought under control.
Assessing the energy efficiency of the existing ventilation system
Air quality must be guaranteed with minimum energy consumption, both in terms o heating and in terms o electricity.Consumption is dependent on several parameters, illustrated by the ollowing two ormulas:
PqTt Pqpt
heatvmeanheat elecvvent
= × × ×= × ×
04600./(/)/
ΔΔ η η
where:P
heat
= energy consumed to heat resh airP
elec
= electricity consumed by ventilatorsIn ollowing paragraphs, several examples will be given to clariy the dierent parameters and their units o theormulas above.In a mechanical ventilation system, consumption or heating air generally accounts or 80-90% o total consumption,compared with 10-0% or ventilator consumption. By contrast, in terms o costs, this relation balances out or reversesbecause electricity is signiicantly more expensive than uel.The ormulas clearly show the actors that need to be acted upon to limit consumption:
1. Reduce new air flows, q
v
, to the minimum level required
: eliminate uncontrollable iniltrations, guide thelow o resh air taking into account actual occupation (detection o presence, CO
sensor etc.), reduce thegeneration o pollutants as much as possible (e.g. VOCs), distribute ventilation circuits standard occupationareas, do not make equipment too large, prevent all leaks in the air distribution systems and so orth.
2. Minimise Δp charge losses
: operate at low speed in the shortest and least turbulent networks possible,choose suitable ilters and maintain them regularly etc.
. Minimise operating time t
: adapt ventilation periods to the periods during which the building is occupied.
4. Use ventilators and motors that have a high η
vent
output
in the operating area that is used the most.
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