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JUNE 09 - HOW ‘GREEN’ IS ‘GREEN’?

Air is free, but ensuring a constant, fresh supply in homes could be costing significantly more than just the energy required for operation, warns Passivent.

The company, which has in the past few months attained the ISO14001 environmental standard, maintains that domestic ventilation solutions which seem ‘green’ on paper often are not when embodied energy is factored into the equation, particularly for replacement parts over the life of the building.

“Embodied energy makes a huge impact on the overall energy performance! SAP only measures energy used to operate the installed systems, not to manufacture, deliver to site and, most importantly, maintain them,” says Stephen Smith, Passivent Product Manager.

“The ‘Sustainable Homes: Embodied Energy in Residential Property Development’ guide for registered social landlords, produced by the BRE and The Housing Corporation, advises that good practice involves design for long life, and avoidance of systems with high maintenance requirements or which need frequent replacement ie taking embodied energy into account. It further recommends avoidance of systems which rely heavily on user regulation to achieve energy savings, specifically citing the use instead of ‘intelligent, self-regulating passive stack ventilation rather than user controlled systems’.

“Already, independent SAP testing has shown that our intelligent Passive Stack Ventilation is proven to be just as energy efficient in operation- if not more- than alternative ventilation solutions. Unlike alternative systems which all have moving parts- motors, fans, switches, wiring etc- which will wear out or develop faults and need replacing, Passivent iPSV has none, so once installed, will work constantly, 24/7, for the life of the building. This yields major savings not only by eliminating the cost of replacement parts, but the embodied energy of their manufacture and delivery to site, and the travel to site of the service engineer!”

Passivent iPSV is a ‘fit and forget’ solution. The system uses NO electricity, power source or fans to function, and has no moving parts to wear out or develop faults over time, requiring maintenance and/or replacement. It works automatically, and silently, by harnessing natural variations in air temperature and pressure- convection and the venturi effect. Moisture-laden air is warmer, so rises due to convection. Strategic ceiling extracts respond to changes in humidity, opening and closing as required to extract the stale, moist air as required and without unnecessary heat loss through ducting to a roof terminal, whilst inlets allow gentle replacement air in without draughts. Wind blowing across the roof enhances extraction (also known as the venturi effect).

Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (bpha) is just one social housing provider that endorses the concept: Andy White of bpha observed, “Passivent PSV is our preferred ventilation system for all our rental new build housing because it is durable and reduces maintenance responsibilities during the life of the dwelling.”

Passivent’s range for domestic buildings further includes assisted and mechanical ventilation solutions for single person to multi-occupancy properties, plus a range of background window and through-wall ventilation solutions. Passivent is part of the Building Product Design Group which incorporates Glidevale (roofing and ventilation), Z-Led (damp-proofing solutions), and Kingfisher Louvre Systems (ventilation and solar shading louvre systems), all of which aim to bring to market innovative yet practical products in line with changing requirements.

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