E.Vent - Efficient, cost-effective and easy-to-maintain centralised ventilation systems for apartment buildings - planning, operation and fire protection

Project manager overall project: Rainer Pfluger

Project manager University of Innsbruck: Rainer Pfluger

Project staff: Christoph Speer, Silvia Öttl

Project partners:

  • AEE - Institute for Sustainable Technologies
  • J. PICHLER Gesellschaft m.b.H.
  • Innsbruck Real Estate Company
  • Neue Heimat Tirol
  • Gemeinnützige Alpenländische Gesellschaft für Wohnungsbau und Siedlungswesen m.b.H.
  • Alpsolar Klimadesign OG
  • Passive House Institute (Innsbruck site)

Funding organisation: FFG

Duration: 01.12.2016 - 31.05.2020

Summary of the project

Based on practical experience from centralised multi-family house ventilation systems that have already been implemented and findings from previous projects, urgent tasks were identified in the areas of planning, automatic balance adjustment and fire protection. The aim of the project is to provide innovative technical solutions and planning aids both for the construction of new systems and for the low-maintenance operation of existing systems. Cost-effective fire protection concepts are evaluated and selection aids for favourable use are created. Cost-effective solutions for balance equalisation, including retrofitting options for existing systems, are being developed and tested. Synergies between fire protection (cold smoke barrier) and volume flow control are analysed. As a planning aid, algorithms are created that characterise space requirements, volume flows and pressure drop in the early design phase and implemented in a 3D graphics tool.

Planning tool

To facilitate planning at an early stage of project development, an Excel tool was developed, which includes fire protection and a rough cost estimate of investment and maintenance costs as well as pressure loss and the efficiency of the ventilation system. Initial preparatory work and implementation were carried out using an Excel tool - this is used for preliminary planning and for integrating fire protection into the planning tool. The characteristic values are:

    • Number of storeys, residential units and persons
    • Size of the energy reference area (according to PHPP)
    • Location of the plant room
    • Ventilation concept (cascade ventilation or extended cascade ventilation)
    • Fire protection variants (effect on pressure loss in the duct network) included in the tool:
        • Structure of fire protection elements (number of different fire protection components based on building parameters and fire protection concept)
        • Costs of fire protection elements

This tool is used for preliminary planning and estimation and does not provide detailed calculations. It shows which fire protection concepts are possible and provides a rough cost estimate: investment costs, maintenance costs, pressure loss.

The tool can be downloaded at download here for free.

If you have any questions, please contact Rainer Pfluger (Rainer.Pfluger@uibk.ac.at).

Webinar - News on the subject of ventilation

Venue: Online

Organiser: AEE INTEC

On Thursday, 16 April 2020, AEE - Institute for Sustainable Technologies, together with the Energy Efficient Building Unit, Department of Structural Engineering and Material Sciences, University of Innsbruck, and other project partners, organised a webinar entitled:

News on ventilation: planning, balance, operation and fire protection

Presentation and discussion of the results from the "E.Vent" and "IEA EBC Annex 68" projects

The presentations show current research results from the field of centralised mechanical ventilation systems with heat recovery in residential buildings. Topics include new planning aids, measurement results on air volume balance in the overall system, integration of air recirculation systems, as well as concepts and ideas for fire protection solutions and components in ventilation systems. The webinar is aimed at (building services/ventilation) planners and contractors, as well as representatives of authorities, energy consultants and all interested parties.

Successful planning and implementation of an innovative fire protection concept
Silvia Öttl and Rainer Pfluger, UIBK

Development of planning aids - test implementation in 3D CAD application
Laszlo Lepp, PHI Innsbruck

Kitchen exhaust air and recirculation systems vs. living room ventilation - How much fine dust remains in the room?
Gabriel Rojas, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences

Comparison of different fire protection concepts
Armin Knotzer, AEE INTEC, and Bojan Pehan, TB Enerep Graz

New developments in fire protection components
Martin Hallegger, Pichlerluft

Strategies for balancing ventilation systems
Rainer Pfluger and Christoph Speer, UIBK

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The webinar took place as part of the 'City of the future' project E.Vent. 'City of the future' is a research and technology programme of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. It is being carried out on behalf of BMK by Austrian Research Promotion Agency together with Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH and Austrian Society for Environment and Technology ÖGUT.

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