The REHVA

European HVAC Journal

Volume: 60 Issue: 2 April 2023 w w w.rehva.eu

Special issue on

IEQ and Ventilation

Shower drain heat recovery

Kitchen ventilation

Challenges and Needed

remedies of Demand
Controlled Ventilation

Control of airborne
infections with ventilation
and air distribution in post
COVID pandemic

Update on the F-Gas

Regulation negotiations:
The shift to (very) low-
GWP refrigerants

Application of Indoor
CO2 in Response to
the Pandemic
ISH China (11-
13 May 2023)
The REHVA www.rehva.eu
Contents
European HVAC Journal Download the articles from www.rehva.eu -> REHVA Journal
Volume: 60 Issue: 2 April 2023

Editor-in-Chief: EDITORIAL 44 Recent developments on

Jaap Hogeling
Environment Product Declarations
[email protected] 4 IEQ and Ventilation to be integrated (EPDs) for HVAC products in Europe
in recast Energy performance of Thor Endre Lexow
Editorial Assistant: Buildings Directive (EPBD)
Marie Joannes Jaap Hogeling 48 Comparative LCA of Water
[email protected] Installation Tube Systems based on
Copper, PEX-Al and PEX
General Executive:
Ismail Ceyhan, Turkey
ARTICLES Olivier Tissot

REHVA BOARD 5 Evaluation of replacement air 53 MODERATE: Marketable Open Data

President: systems – Avoiding negative Solutions for Building Energy
Cătălin Lungu pressure problems during cooker Optimisation
hood operation in airtight Jasper Vermaut, Francesca Conselvan,
Vice Presidents:
dwellings Daniele Antonucci, Philipp Mascherbauer &
Lada Hensen Centnerová
Lars Ekberg & Per Kempe Cristian Pozza
Livio Mazzarella
Pedro Vicente-Quiles 9 Kitchen ventilation solutions
Johann Zirngibl in urban dwellings REHVA WORLD
Ivo Martinac Kari Thunshelle & Aileen Yang
Kemal Gani Bayraktar 57 ACREX 2023, that’s a wrap!
13 Challenges and Needed remedies
EDITORIAL BOARD 59 ISHRAE and REHVA: continuously
Murat Cakan, Turkey
of Demand Controlled Ventilation
Panu Mustakallio, Peter G. Schild & joining forces to advance HVAC
Guangyu Cao, Norway
Tiberiu Catalina, Romania
Lars Ekberg
Francesca R. d’Ambrosio, Italy
18 COVID-19 guidance for the Swedish
EU POLICY
Ioan Silviu Dobosi, Romania
construction and real estate sectors 60 Update on the F-Gas Regulation
Lada Hensen, The Netherlands
– results from a survey study negotiations: The shift to (very)
Karel Kabele, Czech Republic
Lars Ekberg, Jonas Anund Vogel, low-GWP refrigerants
Risto Kosonen, Finland
Jarek Kurnitski, Estonia
Jakob Löndahl, Thomas Olofsson, Jasper Vermaut
Livio Mazzarella, Italy
Sasan Sadrizadeh & Aneta Wierzbicka
Dejan Mumovic, United Kingdom
Ilinca Nastase, Romania
21 Control of airborne infections with IAQ CORNER
ventilation and air distribution in
Natasa Nord, Norway
post COVID pandemic 65 The Seven Essentials of Healthy
Dusan Petras, Slovakia
Position paper by Nordic Ventilation Group Indoor Air
Olli Seppänen, Finland
Branislav Todorovic, Serbia 24 Existing protocols for the
Peter Wouters, Belgium inspection of ventilation systems EVENTS & FAIRS
CREATIVE DESIGN AND LAYOUT Nolwenn Hurel & Valérie Leprince
67 Exhibitions, Conferences and
Jarkko Narvanne, [email protected]
31 Application of Indoor CO₂ in Seminars
ADVERTISEMENTS Response to the Pandemic
Marie Joannes, [email protected] Andrew Persily & Oluwatobi Oke 68 Industry players to seize ample
opportunities at ISH China & CIHE
SUBSCRIPTIONS AND 35 Shower drain heat recovery 2023
CHANGES OF ADDRESSES – an introduction
REHVA OFFICE: Laurent Socal
Washington Street 40
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32-2-5141171
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EDITORIAL

IEQ and Ventilation to be

integrated in recast Energy
performance of Buildings
Directive (EPBD)

T
he recast EPBD and the amendments building insulation, the energy use for domestic hot
as adopted by the European Parliament water plays an increasing role. WWHR is a technology
14 th March 2023 clearly includes Indoor that allows to cover a significant part of the domestic
Environmental Quality (IEQ) and ventilation hot water energy needs with heat recovered from the
requirements. The ongoing negotiation (the so- shower drain. In the next RJ issue, more will be pub-
called triage) on the final text should result in a recast lished on a EPB WWHR system standard that is going
EPBD before the end of the summer. In this recast to add the set of EPB standards.
EPBD the IEQ will go alongside energy performance
and decarbonisation requirements. It is a great step In Annex I of the recast EPBD, it is stated that
forward in securing healthy indoor environments Member States shall define indicators on operational
in new and to renovate buildings. Clear statements and embodied greenhouse gas emissions produced
on IEQ and ventilation control and inspection are in kgCO₂eq/(m²·y) over the expected service life of
included. The statement that the positive health the building. It is clear that the EPBD is restricted
effect of improved IEQ should be included in the to ruling on carbon emission. In the near future the
cost optimal equation on energy efficiency and decar- European Construction Product Regulation (CPR)
bonisation measures sounds very promising. will go much further to protect our environment.
Step by step more elements will be required to include
The focus on ventilation and IEQ in this RJ is most in the in the Environmental Product Declarations
welcome. With thanks to our Scandinavian authors (EPDs). An article on EPDs for HVAC products
and coordinating support of Peter G. Schild. This RJ illustrate the important role of EPDs in the coming
offers articles on ventilation in kitchens, the need for years in Europe. The CPR is going to be the main
demand controlled ventilation, a survey on Swedish driver for use of EPDs.
Covid guidance, position paper of the Nordic ventila-
tion group. Also, on ventilation two articles from the
last AIVC conference: one on inspection of ventila-
tion systems and one on the role of indoor CO₂ in
response on the pandemic.

The expected inclusion in the recast EPBD of waste

water heat recovery (WWHR) as a well proven tech-
nical system to reduce the energy use of domestic hot
water systems is the reason to include a first article to JAAP HOGELING
introduce shower drain heat recovery. In the context Editor-in-Chief
of reduced heating needs due to the increasing level of REHVA Journal

4 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Evaluation of replacement air systems

– Avoiding negative pressure problems during cooker hood operation in airtight dwellings

LARS EKBERG PER KEMPE

Chalmers University of Technology, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden,
Gothenburg Stockholm
E-mail: [email protected]

The present paper summarizes the results of a Swedish technology competition on ventilation
in energy-efficient residential buildings. The first stage of the competition was conducted
during 2019–2020 in collaboration between the trade organizations/networks Svensk Ventilation
(svenskventilation.se) and BeBo (The Swedish Energy Agency´s network for residential property
owners committed to energy efficiency bebostad.se) with the overall aim of stimulating new
and innovative solutions to ventilation problems in energy efficient residential buildings. The
problem addressed in this article is linked to the need to supply replacement air in conjunction
with operation of the range hood to avoid disturbing under-pressure in the apartment.

Background
on the ventilation to avoid problems with over- or under-
In the Nordic countries, high air tightness is sought in pressure during basic or forced air flow. The need to
buildings in order to reduce the heat demand caused increase the exhaust air flow rate in the cooker hood when
by air leakage due to wind. It is desired to maintain a cooking creates problems with replacement air.
small negative pressure indoors compared to outdoors
(a few pascals) to reduce the risk of moist room air One way to get replacement air has been window
leaking into the climate screen (walls, roof, etc.) during airing, but window airing can significantly increase
the heating season and giving risk of moisture damage. heating demand if windows are left open. As a result,
Normally, 5 – 10% lower supply than exhaust air flow various solutions to control replacement air during
rate is sought for each apartment. cooker hood forcing have been tested by property
owners, but good solutions have been missing, so far.
To avoid problems with negative pressure in dwelling
projects, the requirement of a maximum negative Problems with negative or positive pressure can occur if
pressure of 10 Pa is sometimes used. A negative replacement air and the air flow of the cooker hood do
pressure of more than 25 Pa can cause problems for not follow each other, so there is a need for monitoring
people with reduced strength to open doors. and control, for example, built into the cooker hood,
but this type of product is not yet available.
Very energy-efficient and airtight apartments can achieve
a leakage air flow, Q50, down to 10 l/s when tested with This is the background to Svensk Ventilation and BeBo
50 Pa pressure differential. It has been shown that the initiating a technology competition on replacement
negative apartment pressure becomes problematic if air systems in 2019-20. The competition concerned
the difference between the total exhaust air flow and energy efficient multifamily buildings, typically
total supply air flow approaches half of the Q50 value. 3-8 stories high. The targeted building type typically
Thus, in airtight buildings, each apartment should have have one centrally placed air handling unit per stairwell.
an exhaust -supply airflow rate difference less than 4 – On average, each apartment comprises a total floor
5 l/s (<0.5 Q50). This places high demands on airflow area of about 70 m², distributed between three rooms
measurement and balancing in such residential buildings. and a kitchen. Typically, the airflow rate extracted from
The higher the air tightness requirements, and the better the kitchen cooker hood ranges from 10 l/s as the basic
the builder is at building airtight, the greater the demands flow, up to a forced flow of about 40 l/s.

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The tested solutions

The test chamber pressure was measured using a refer-
Out of fifteen submitted solutions, the competition ence electronic micromanometer with a measurement
jury judged that three were particularly interesting uncertainty of ±0.3% of the reading plus ±0.3 Pa.
for further consideration. These three were invited to The airflow rates were determined by measurement
be evaluated by laboratory testing with the purpose of pressure differentials over co-calibrated dampers.
of verifying that the solutions maintain the required All micromanometers were co-calibrated and differed
performance over time. less than 0.6 Pa at the pressure levels measured in the
test chamber, and less than 1.6% of the reading at the
One of the chosen solutions were withdrawn, so, levels measured for air flow rate determination. To be
only two were tested in the laboratory at Chalmers able to follow the rapid flow and pressure changes, the
University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. readings were recorded typically using a time resolu-
Both these solutions are based on an electrically tion of 1 value per second.
controlled damper opening for increased supply of
replacement air when the range hood is activated.
Results
One solution is intended for use with mechanical
supply and exhaust air, while the other is intended The dampers for replacement air have different speed
for buildings with mechanical exhaust air with supply of position change. One takes 80 seconds between its
of untreated outdoor air, e.g., through slot vents. end positions, while the other takes 22 seconds. Since
the cooker hood’s control is instantaneous, using a
“flap” damper, there was a short-term pressure drop.
The test method
In the case of the slower replacement air damper of
The tests were carried out in a test chamber with solution 1, the test chamber pressure dropped towards
an internal volume of 30 m³ and a total enclosure −25 Pa during less than 1/2 minute. In the case of
area of 59 m². The air leakage through its envelope the faster damper of solution 2, the pressure rarely
was determined to 13 l/s at 50 Pa negative chamber dropped below −10 Pa.
pressure. The chamber dimensions are smaller than
those of real apartments. The smaller size means that Figures 2 and 3 show examples of measurement results
the pressure changes that occur in the chamber will obtained for solution 1, i.e., when the test chamber
be faster than they would be in a real apartment. was arranged to represent a dwelling with mechanical
Thus, the technology solutions have been tested supply and exhaust ventilation. In Figure 2 the range
under slightly stricter conditions than is normal in hood was inactive (both the range hood damper and
real buildings. Figure 1 shows a sketch illustrating
the principle of the test chamber when arranged to
represent a dwelling with mechanical supply and
exhaust ventilation.

Figure 2. Example of measurement results obtained

for solution 1 when the range hood was inactive (with
Figure 1. Sketch showing the principle of the test closed dampers). The test chamber was arranged to
chamber when arranged to represent a dwelling with represent a dwelling with mechanical supply and
mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation. exhaust ventilation.

6 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

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the replacement air damper closed). The pressure in

the extract and supply air ducts were maintained at
120 Pa and 100 Pa, respectively. The extract airflow
rate from WC and shower room was measured to
36 l/s, and the basic extract airflow rate through the
range hood was 13 l/s with the damper closed. Thus,
the sum of the extract airflows rates was 49 l/s, which
was slightly (3 l/s) higher than the supply airflow rate.
At this airflow difference the test chamber pressure
was −4 Pa.
Figure 4. Diagram showing an example of a time series
In Figure 3 the range hood was activated, which of measurement results obtained for solution 1. The test
caused the extract airflow rate through the hood to chamber was arranged to represent a dwelling with
increase to 34 l/s. In this case the total extract airflow mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation.
rate was 68 l/s. The activated range hood caused the
damper for replacement air to open. The replacement
supply air flow rate was then measured to 34 l/s and replacement air damper opened. During this course
the total supply airflow rate stabilized at 68 l/s. In this the room pressure rapidly dropped towards −25 Pa
case the extract-supply airflow rate difference became before it was being restored. Later, when the range
too small to be able to be determined by measure- hood damper was closed, the room pressure became
ment. The pressure in the test chamber briefly reached positive for a brief period before the replacement air
−24 Pa and then stabilized at −1 Pa. damper reached its closed position.

The diagram in Figure 4 shows an example of the total Figure 5 shows an example of measurement results
supply and extract airflow rates monitored together obtained for solution 2 when the range hood was active
with the room pressure for solution 1. The diagram (with open range hood damper). In this case the test
illustrates how the extract airflow rate increased chamber was arranged to represent a dwelling with
instantly when the range hood was activated, and mechanical exhaust ventilation and air supply through
the supply airflow rate successively increased as the outdoor air vents, e.g., slot devices.

Figure 5. Example of measurement results obtained

Figure 3. Example of measurement results obtained for solution 2 when the range hood was active (with
for solution 1 when the range hood was active (with open damper). The test chamber was arranged
open dampers). The test chamber was arranged to to represent a dwelling with mechanical exhaust
represent a dwelling with mechanical supply and ventilation and air supply through outdoor air vents,
exhaust ventilation. e.g., slot devices.

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Figure 6. Diagram showing measured airflow rates for Figure 7. Diagram showing the measured room pressure
solution 2. The test chamber was arranged to represent for solution 2. The test chamber was arranged to represent
a dwelling with mechanical exhaust ventilation. a dwelling with mechanical exhaust ventilation.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate examples om monitored the closed position. However, this has not been tested
test data for solution 2. Figure 6 shows the measured in the current project. Regular inspection and cleaning
airflow rates, while Figure 7 shows the measured room will be required, especially of the solution installed
pressure. When the range hood was activated the room as an outdoor air valve/supply air radiator, as the
pressure dropped from close to −4 Pa to about −9 Pa. damper in that case is exposed to unfiltered outdoor
As the replacement air damper opened the room air. The rather slow change in the damper position
pressure was restored to a value close to −6 Pa. contributes to the solutions being judged as robust.

Both solutions have the possibility to add an alarm

Summary and Conclusions
function with an electric feedback signal in case the
Both solutions met the technology competition damper gets stuck in any position. However, none of
requirement regarding limitation of room under- the tested solutions had any such function available.
pressure. The solutions are considered robust and
long-term stable as they were tested for more than The tests conditions represent modern airtight
200 cycles without any malfunction being observed. buildings. In such buildings, very good air flow rate
measurement and balancing is required. The air
Over time, however, dust will accumulate on the flow balance needs to be restored within 30 seconds.
dampers, which could affect their functioning; that The solutions are ready to be adapted for full-scale
they get stuck and/or that they do not close tightly in tests in apartment buildings.

Literature
Ekberg, L. (2023) Tekniktävling - Ventilation i energieffektiva flerbostadshus, Etapp 2: -Utvärdering av system för ersättnings-luft
vid spiskåpeforcering, E2B2 Program. The Swedish Energy Agency. https://www.e2b2.se/forskningsprojekt-i-e2b2/varme-och-
ventilation/ventilation-i-energieffektiva-flerbostadshus-etapp-2/.
Kempe, P. (2013) Installationssystem i energieffektiva byggnader, SBUF rapport 12541.
Kempe, P. (2014) Artikelserien ”Erfarenheten”, Installationer i energieffektiva byggnader: Del 2 - Luftflödesbalansen viktig i täta
byggnader, s.42-44, Energi&Miljö Nr 6-7, 2014; Del 3 - Luftflöden och tryck vid forcering, s.44-46, Energi & Miljö Nr 8, 2014.
Kempe, P. (2017a) Förstudie – Designguide ventilation i energieffektiva flerbostadshus, Version: 1.0. BeBo och
Energimyndigheten.
Kempe, P. (2017b) Ersättningsluft vid forcering av spiskåpor/fläktar, Sammanfattning av djupintervjuer och workshop, Version:
1.0. BeBo och Energimyndigheten.
Lstiburek, J.W. (2016) Exhaust-Only Ventilation Does Not Work, ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 58, Issue 8, American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
Svensk Ventilation (2022) Osuppfångning i spiskåpor och köksfläktar för bostäder - vägledning, Andra utgåvan, Svensk Ventilation.
SS-EN 13141-3:2017, Ventilation for buildings – Performance testing of components / products for residential ventilation – Part
3: Range hoods for residential use without fan, Swedish Standards Institute, SIS.

8 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

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Kitchen ventilation solutions

in urban dwellings
KARI THUNSHELLE AILEEN YANG
SINTEF Community, Norway SINTEF Community, Norway
[email protected]

Kitchen extract hood design and volumetric

flow rates have been discussed for years.
The standard airflow rate once recommended
for conventional volume hoods is outdated
in the context of urban energy-efficient
apartments. Can recirculating or downdraft-
hoods be acceptable alternatives, and how
should the overall ventilation solution then
be for the apartment?

Keywords: Kitchen hoods, IAQ, urban apartments, recirculating solutions, downdraft,

exposure, Particulate matter, VOC

Urban dwellings and challenges

Urban dwellings are generally getting smaller.
Increased development of urban areas leaves new Minimum exhaust rates for kitchens and bathrooms
challenges for the indoor environment. Area-efficient can result in high air change rates, and thus increase
dwellings with open-plan kitchens and living rooms are the risk of low humidity in winter. Taking all these
becoming the standard in most new Norwegian apart- aspects into consideration, what recommendations
ment buildings. At the same time, the design of the for ventilation rates can be given to achieve healthy
kitchen hood is evolving, and new designs such as the and energy-efficient urban dwellings? The Norwegian
integrated downdraft cookers are gaining popularity research project Health Energy-efficient Urban Home
as they release space above the cooktop. Ventilation (2020–2024), coordinated by SINTEF,
aims to answer this question.
The existing mandatory airflow rate in Norway of
108 m³/h once recommended for volume hoods, often
Kitchen design and new products
results in complaints of insufficient capture, while
hoods with high airflow rates have capacity issues due to The layout of urban apartments has changed, and
under-pressure in airtight buildings. Recirculation solu- this includes the kitchen. Design of kitchen hoods
tions can be a tempting alternative to ducted exhaust as well as introducing recirculating solutions reveal
solutions, as the latter demands considerable space for potential totally new concepts for kitchen design but
shafts to the rooftop. However, the true performance need documentation. A team consisting of researchers,
of these alternative solutions is not well-documented. housing developers, main manufacturers of kitchen
Existing test standards have their limitations, and the hoods and a ventilation system manufacturer, analysed
Norwegian building code demands documentation if architectural plans and project drawings to identify
pre-accepted solutions are not used. typical floor plans and appropriate HVAC solutions.

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ARTICLES

The analysis showed that separate kitchens as seen in the quite close to the cooktop. Generally, electric cooktops
1970–80s are now rare. Open-plan kitchen and living are used in Norway, and induction hobs (cooktops)
rooms are now standard. The kitchen furniture area have become the dominate solution in the marked.
is predominantly L-shaped (See Figure 1), followed The study also revealed a slight variation in mounting
by single-sided kitchens. None of the studied projects height of the kitchen hood, related to variations in the
had kitchen islands or a kitchen hood in the middle standard set by the manufacturers of kitchen furniture.
of the room; the cooktop was normally placed next to
a wall. In smaller apartments, the sofa may be located Based on these findings and discussions with the four
kitchen hood manufacturers, two different setups were
chosen for testing:

• Standard wall-mounted kitchen hood fitted between

wall-mounted cupboards
• Downdraft in the centre of an induction hob
(cooktop) fitted in a countertop along the wall.

These two setups (Figure 2) are being tested for both

ducted exhaust and recirculation configurations.
The manufacturers selected products with known good
performance from their product range, to be tested in
the laboratory (Figure 3).

Typical Nordic cooking habits

The manufacturers of kitchen hoods strongly wanted
realistic testing conditions for cooking meals. Nordic
meals and cooking habits can be slightly different than
ones found in the literature [1]. Two surveys were
performed to find representative Norwegian cooking
habits. Based on the responses and nutrition facts,
Figure 1. A typical 1-bedroom urban apartment in procedures were developed for cooking three typical
Oslo, Norway. Courtesy by: Selvaag Bolig. nutritious meals for two persons. These involved

Figure 2. Ducted standard setup (left) and downdraft recirculating solution (right).

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ARTICLES

frying of minced meat with taco spices, fried salmon Based on the results [3], frying salmon was selected to
with a vegetable and rice mix, and a vegetarian pasta be explored further using more advanced instruments
Bolognese alternative [2]. Teflon-coated frying pan was to perform real-time measurements of volatile organic
used as it is the most common choice. compound (VOC) and particle (≤1 µm) concentrations.

The advanced experiments were done for two main

New methods and advanced studies
setups – a standard wall-mounted hood and a down-
Based on the analysis of kitchen layouts in modern draft kitchen hood. For each setup, both extraction
dwellings, and existing test standards, a test environment and recirculation solutions were tested. Recirculation
and test methods were developed to study both capture solutions were tested with retailed charcoal filters (acti-
efficiency and exposure to persons in the room. The test vated carbon). The following airflow rates were tested
room which emulates a typical open-plan living room and for both setups: 108, 180, 250, 350 m³/h. In addition,
kitchen, as shown in Figure 3, is larger than the standard the test room is ventilated with a basic ventilation rate
test room in EN 61591:2019 which more reflects older of 36 m³/h. As there is no international standard for
kitchens. Two different kitchen configurations were testing with real cooking, a new method was developed
built: standard wall-mounted kitchen hood based on the based on the international standard IEC 61591:2019
standard setup, and a downdraft solution. The flexible [4] and NORDTEST NT VVS 047 [5].
setup of the test facilities allowed for recirculating and
extraction solutions for both kitchen configurations. In
Indicative results can change the kitchen
addition, the height of the cupboards was adjustable.
design and recommendations
Diffuse supply air to the room is chosen, as balanced
ventilation with supply air in bedrooms and living room The results of the VOC measurements are still being
is the standard solution in Norwegian dwellings. processed, but the preliminary results of the particle
measurements can provide some indications:
As preparation for more advanced measurements, the first
round of tests was performed for the three meals using the • The Norwegian requirement of 108 m³/h is clearly
standard kitchen extraction configuration at different air insufficient in terms of reducing exposure to parti-
flow rates and heights. Each experiment has a procedure cles. Higher minimum rates will be recommended.
of 13–16 minutes of cooking, followed by 45 minutes • The majority of the particles in the size range of
of continued logging of airborne particle concentrations. ≤ 1 µm were difficult for the charcoal filter to

Figure 3. Testroom setup with advanced real-time measurements.

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ARTICLES

retain (Figure 4). The tested charcoal filers are not

suitable as particle filters; recirculation solutions
need further development.
• Recirculation solutions as today will then not
perform as well as ducted solutions and cannot be
an adequate solution.
• The capture efficiency of downdraft ducted solutions
is better than expected, and downdraft solutions
will have to be considered as a real alternative to
standard wall-mounted solution. There are of course
several considerations to be discussed, like type of
downdraft and height of used frying pan/boiler.

More results to come

In the next phase of the project, we will further assess
the recirculation solutions, particularly the filter
efficiency. A dedicated test chamber will be set up Figure 4. Capture efficiency of particles 0.3−2.5 µm,
to investigate the effect of different types of filters measured in the room’s return air terminal, for wall-
(plasma versus charcoal) and the age of the filter on mounted kitchen setup with ducted and recirculation
the concentration of volatile organic compounds. solution, preliminary results.

Besides recommendations for kitchen ventilation rates

and exposure assessment of cooking, the ventilation and
resulting healthy indoor environment will be assessed
in a holistic approach. These include extraction rates
for the bathroom, moisture generation and removal Acknowledgements
[6], energy use and peak load. Recommendations for
optimal future ventilation of urban dwellings will take This work is funded by the Research Council of
into account also the fact of different needs for dif- Norway EnergiX program under Grant No. 308819
ferent size and use of apartments. Recommendations and the industry partner Røros Metall AS, BSH
should be suitable for balanced ventilation systems for Husholdningsapparater AS, Miele A/S, Engebretsen
one apartment as well as several in a centralized system. AS, Mestergruppen Bolig AS, OBOS BBL, Selvaag
Bolig ASA and Flexit.
Read more: https://www.sintef.no/projectweb/healthy-
energy-efficient-urban-home-ventilation/

References
[1] C. O’Leary, Y. Kluizenaar, P. Jacobs, W. Borsboom, I. Hall, B. Jones, Investigating measurements of fine particle (PM2.5)
emissions from the cooking of meals and mitigating exposure using a cooker hood, INDOOR AIR. 29 (2019) 423–438.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12542.
[2] A. Jutulstad, A. Yang, P.G. Schild, A. Chaudhuri, K. Thunshelle, Cooking habits and usage of kitchen hoods in
Norwegian homes, in: CLIMA 2022 Conf., TU Delft OPEN Publishing, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2022. https://doi.
org/10.34641/clima.2022.54.
[3] A. Jutulstad, A. Yang, P.G. Schild, A. Chaudhuri, K. Thunshelle, Cooking emissions from typical Norwegian meals: basis
for advanced exposure studies, in: CLIMA 2022 Conf., TU Delft OPEN Publishing, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.34641/clima.2022.52.
[4] International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC 61591:2019 Cooking fume extractors - Methods for measuring
performance, (2019). https://www.standard.no/no/Nettbutikk/produktkatalogen/Produktpresentasjon/?Product
ID=1094633 (accessed March 30, 2023).
[5] Buildings - ventilating air: Mean age of air (NT VVS 047), NORDTEST. (1985). http://www.nordtest.info/wp/1985/11/25/
buildings-ventilating-air-mean-age-of-air-nt-vvs-047/ (accessed March 30, 2023).
[6] C. Hafnor, S. Holøs, T. Aurlien, K. Thunshelle, Spatiotemporal humidity variation in student housing, CLIMA 2022 Conf.
(2022). https://doi.org/10.34641/clima.2022.65.

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Challenges and Needed remedies of

Demand Controlled Ventilation

PANU MUSTAKALLIO PETER G. SCHILD LARS EKBERG

Professor of Practice, Professor, Oslo Professor, Chalmers
Aalto University, Finland Metropolitan University of
University, Norway Technology, Sweden

Introduction
page at: https://www.vvsfinland.fi/foreningen/nvg/.
A recent position paper by the Nordic Ventilation It is based on the group´s collective experiences and
Group (NVG) emphasizes the importance of demand the results of the Nordic Ventilation Forum on 21st
controlled ventilation (DCV) systems in buildings and September 2022, and some other relevant references.
the necessity of addressing current challenges in these It applies to all building types with DCV systems with
systems. The position paper is available on NVG web a main focus on commercial and public buildings.

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1. Need for DCV systems in buildings and 2. Current systems and their principles
potential advantages
The main principle of the DCV system is to maintain
Sufficient ventilation must be ensured in buildings, good indoor climate conditions for occupants in build-
which in many cases calls for increased airflow rates ings by dynamic control of the ventilation supply and
during times of occupancy. At the same time there exhaust airflow rates depending on occupancy, pollu-
is a strong demand for a substantially reduced use tion load and thermal load. These systems are called
of energy, which creates an evident need for DCV also variable air volume (VAV) systems. Typically, also
systems in buildings [1]. Currently, close to 40% of water-based heating and cooling room systems (for
the total energy consumption in Europe is used for instance chilled beams, fan-coils or radiant panels) are
buildings, and a substantial part of that is used by linked to the DCV system. With these systems, the
the ventilation system [2,4]. According to scientific airflow rate is determined with respect to occupancy
studies, the energy consumption of heating, ventilation and excess cooling/heating demand is covered with
and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can be reduced water-based systems. HVAC systems based on fixed
by 20-50% [1-3] with DCV compared to the systems ventilation rates (CAV systems) need to be dimen-
with fixed ventilation airflow rates. This depends sioned for the most demanding situation which
strongly for instance on the room usage/occupancy requires the maximum airflow rate and they are not
profiles in the buildings, which vary significantly in able to reduce the ventilation fan energy consumption
different spaces. Typical occupancy ratio is for instance and cooling/ heating energy consumption, as opposed
30%-40% in many office buildings [6]. to the case with DCV systems.

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Typically, in a DCV system, ventilation airflow rates For maintaining the desired indoor climate condi-
are controlled based on schedule, occupancy detector, tions, the DCV system should control ventilation
temperature sensor and indoor air quality sensors. airflow rates at room level. Commonly the target
The most commonly used indoor air quality sensors in for controlling ventilation airflow rates at room level
DCV systems measure carbon dioxide (CO₂). Control is also to maintain the balance between supply and
of airflow rates in DCV systems can be designed for exhaust. Three most typical concepts for exhaust air
individual rooms, zones or specific modules in open flows are:
areas like landscape offices.
• Supply and exhaust airflow rates are balanced at
DCV systems in apartment buildings can control room level.
ventilation airflow rates at the apartment level. This • Constant room exhaust airflow, and when supply
is typically done by switching to low airflow rate when airflow is boosted, the room is over-pressurized, and
the apartment is empty or by having a boost airflow the boosted fraction of the airflow is transferred
mode when the kitchen hood is used. Additional from the room to central exhaust.
kitchen hood exhaust air should be properly balanced • Only supply air terminal units are installed in rooms
by controlling the supply airflow rate in the DCV and all the exhaust air is transferred from the room
system. This should be done carefully when several to centralized exhaust.
apartments are boosting at the same time.

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DCV systems can be defined as pressure-independent • Too low ventilation airflow rate in rooms due to
and pressure-dependent system categories related to undersized AHU or duct system caused by incorrect
the control of ventilation airflow rates. pressure loss calculations
• Noise problem due to system without zone dampers
• Pressure-independent systems require variable air • Imbalance (pressure difference between rooms) due
volume (VAV) control dampers/units at all loca- to supply and exhaust covering different zones, with
tions of ventilation ductwork where the ventilation no air-transfer
airflow rate is measured and controlled to the • Unstable operation due to too low flow rate over
desired level. VAV unit (VAV unit cannot measure flow rate)
• Pressure-dependent systems use constant static • Mixing CAV and DCV in the same system, using
pressure (CSP) control dampers to adjust each the same supply air temperature to both system
ventilation air ductwork zone to the desired level. types. Either the CAV-rooms become too cold or
CSP dampers include typically the measurement the DCV-rooms too warm
of airflow rate and static pressure at the specific
location of the ductwork zone. It can be applied to Installation
supply air and the ductwork zone is needed to be • Actuators and control sensors were installed in the
designed for maintaining a constant static pressure wrong places
level by utilizing the static regain principle after • VAV dampers were installed in difficult locations
room branches. regarding the maintenance
• VAV damper reports wrong air flow rate due to
incorrect installation (wrong direction, too close
3. Problems in the performance of current
to duct bend/t-branch, not proper safety distances
DCV systems
used or found in drawings)
This section presents a summary of identified problems • Some electrical wires were not connected
and challenges with DCV systems in buildings based • Loose, compressed or wrongly installed pressure
on the Nordic Ventilation Forum presentations and tube in pressure measurement
discussions. These were based on experiences from • Too small or too high ventilation airflow rate in
real building cases as identified challenges for DCV room due to wrong location of room CO₂ sensor
system usage [4,5,8]. Technical problems may arise • Noise problem due to VAV-unit located too close
in any part of the processes of design, installation, to duct t-branch
commissioning, and operation. Any technical problem
has a potential to become serious if it is not identified Commissioning
and properly corrected promptly. Obviously, the risk • In the control of minimum-medium-maximum
of serious problems increases if there is not a dedi- ventilation airflow rates in the room, the medium-
cated and adequate quality assurance system in place. maximum airflow rates were in the wrong order
Systematic quality assurance is really needed given that • The ratio of supply and exhaust ventilation airflow
DCV systems are complex, they need more knowledge rate was not correct
and they include more sensors and actuators than ven- • The setpoint for the room air temperature was too
tilation systems with constant airflow rate systems. As low, leading to continuous unnecessary cooling with
indicated above, problems appeared at all stages of the the maximum airflow rate
building process: design, installation, commissioning • Wrong k-factor for VAV flow-cross in VAV unit
and operation. Some key findings are listed in the program parameters
following according to the building process stages: • Too small ventilation airflow rate in room due to
too low pressure setpoint in the duct
Design • Too small or too high ventilation airflow rate in
• Too narrow and asymmetrical ductwork for proper room due to incorrect programming of the VAV
DCV system operation unit
• Ventilation airflow rate range from minimum to • Connections to building management system not
maximum is typically very large (1:8) in commer- correctly and clearly done
cial and public buildings causing measurement
and control challenges for DCV system design and Operation
operation • Building management personnel did not know how
• Level of DCV system documentation was not suf- to use automation systems and did not understand
ficient or based on general standard schemes the overall operation

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• HVAC and automation design documentation was • Proper design should focus on requirements that
not available in many cases can be verified
• VAV-pressure transducer blocked with dust or broken • Documentation should be up-to-date and
• Exhaust airflow measurement devices were dirty and property/system-specific
gave the wrong airflow rate leading to imbalance • Commissioning tests before the building is occupied
(pressure difference between rooms) or unstable should include tests of all operating modes of the
operation of the system DCV system
• Noise problem in pressure-controlled systems due to • Commission and maintenance processes/contracts
pressure sensor damaged due to pressure or electrical should be improved
spike • BMS for continuous monitoring should be utilized
• Imbalance (pressure difference between rooms) due and need to be well-designed
to zero pressure error in pressure transducer due to • Maintenance staff appreciation and motivation
pressure/electrical spike should be improved
• Mechanical fault with VAV damper blade operation • Inspections and retro-commissioning should be
• Too high supply air temperature due to lacking performed regularly
thermal insulation of supply air ducts installed in
warm spaces (e.g. attics during summertime) Needed improvements related to the technology of
• Too high supply air temperature leading to open DCV systems:
VAV dampers without adequate cooling power
• Large and reliable measurement range of airflow
rates in VAV measurement units
4. What is needed and should be improved
• Smart and robust control systems
for reliable and well-performing DCV
• Utilization of IoT to monitor indoor climate condi-
systems
tions and systems operation
Based on the Nordic Ventilation Forum presentations
and discussions, the following improvements related to These reported improvements are suggested to be
the design, installation and operation of DCV systems implemented with more detailed specifications for
are suggested. achieving reliable and well performing DCV systems
in buildings with good indoor climate conditions
• Training of designers, contractors, and maintenance and efficient use of energy during the entire building
staff should be improved life cycle.

References
Li B and Cai W. A novel CO₂-based demand-controlled ventilation strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the indoor
environment. Build. Environ. 219 (2022) 109232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109232
Merema B, Delwati M, Sourbron M and Breesch H. Demand controlled ventilation (DCV) in school and office buildings:
Lessons learnt from case studies. Energy Build. 172 (2018) 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.04.065
Mysen M, Berntsen S, Nafstad P, Schild PG. Occupancy density and benefits of demand-controlled ventilation
in Norwegian primary schools. Energy and Buildings 37 (12) (2005), 1234-1240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
enbuild.2005.01.003
Zhao W, Kilpeläinen S, Bask W, Lestinen S and Kosonen R. 2022. Operational Challenges of Modern Demand-Control
Ventilation Systems: A Field Study. Buildings 12 (2022), no. 3: 378. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12030378
Mysen M, Schild PG, Cablé A. Demand-controlled ventilation - requirements and commissioning. Guidebook on Well-
Functioning and Energy-Optimal DCV. 2014.
Halvarsson J. Occupancy Pattern in Office Buildings: Consequences for HVAC system design and operation. Norwegian
University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, Department of Energy and
Process Engineering. Doctoral Theses at NTNU, 2012:37. http://hdl.handle.net/11250/234598
Mylonas A, Kazanci OB, Andersen RK, Olesen BW. Capabilities and limitations of wireless CO2, temperature and relative
humidity sensors. Build. Environ. 154 (2019), 362-374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.03.012
Alanko A. Tarpeenmukaisen ilmanvaihdon käytännön haasteita kenttätyön näkökulmasta. Sisäilmastoseminaari 2020.
Sisäilmayhdistys raportti 38, 207-212. https://www.sisailmayhdistys.fi/content/download/4691/30364/

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COVID-19 guidance for the Swedish

construction and real estate sectors
– results from a survey study

LARS EKBERG JONAS ANUND VOGEL JAKOB LÖNDAHL

Chalmers University of KTH Royal Institute of Lund University, Lund
Technology, Gothenburg Technology, Stockholm
E-mail: [email protected]

THOMAS OLOFSSON SASAN SADRIZADEH ANETA WIERZBICKA

Umeå University, Umeå KTH Royal Institute of Lund University, Lund
Technology, Stockholm

Buildings Post Corona is a Swedish collabo- Covid 19 guidance and practice

rative research project between Chalmers,
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lund, One of the initial steps of the Buildings Post Corona
and Umeå Universities. The project intends project has been to collect experiences among various
to provide knowledge related to designing, actors within the construction and real estate sectors
during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This step was
maintaining and operating sustainable build-
conducted by developing and using a questionnaire
ings with a healthy and good indoor envi- survey study. The aim was to create a picture of how
ronment. The project aims to contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic influenced various stake-
the knowledge and processes needed for holders and entities.
the construction and real-estate sectors to
meet the needs of the post-pandemic era. One set of questions deemed especially important
The COVID-19 crisis has stressed the impor-
relates to the advice provided by authorities and trade
organisations, e.g., to what extent such advice was
tance and urge of this research, which is fi-
utilized and if it led to any actions. In line with the
nancially supported by FORMAS (FORMAS is overall objective of the research project, there was a
a Swedish Research Council for Sustainable special focus on indoor air quality and air handling
Development, formas.se). measures.

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The survey study in brief

to respond to the pandemic based on risk analysis
The questionnaire is web-based, and can be accessed on or dialogue.
the project homepage and via this link (https://www. • According to 20% of the respondents, the risk
kth.se/form/6268ff115f387cf0ec9ebf2e). As long as analysis/dialogue was initiated by the tenants.
the link works, we are grateful for more answers. • With one exception, the risk analysis/dialogue led
to implementing one or more changes or measures.
The survey was widely disseminated and targeted
respondents through multiple channels, including The sources of guidance
the reference group of the Buildings Post Corona • 70% of respondents based their actions on guidance
project, the Swedish Energy Agency’s network of non- from authorities.
residential real estate owners (BELOK belok.se), the • The use of guidance from the authorities in
exhibition Nordbygg (nordbygg.se) 2022 - directed to summary:
the building and construction industry in the Nordic –– 94% of the respondents followed guidance from
countries. It was also announced via influential asso- Swedish Public Health Authority.
ciations such as SWESIAQ (swesiaq.se) and the trade –– According to about one-third of the respondents,
organization Svensk Ventilation (svenskventilation.se). Public Health Authority was the only source of
guidance.
The questionnaire was initially published in Swedish, –– 49% of respondents used additional guidance
but an English translation was made available. provided by the Work Environment Authority.
The results will be published in a report available for –– 17% of the respondents used additional guidance
download from the project homepage (buildingspost- from the Swedish National Board of Housing,
corona.se). Building, and Planning.
• 34% of the respondents used internal, already
existing routines applied in the organization.
Summary of results
• 25% of the respondents stated that guidance from
The following is a summary of the survey study results trade organizations was used.
obtained until end of 2022. The questionnaire was • Information from technology suppliers resulted in
completed by 35 respondents, most of which repre- action, according to one respondent only.
sent building construction and management within • The guidance from authorities was judged as clearer,
the healthcare sector in Sweden. This may indicate a more realistic, and more accessible compared to
stronger motivation to utilize general information and guidance from trade organizations.
specific guidance when working with buildings spe- • The guidance from authorities and trade organiza-
cifically targeting healthcare compared to other types tions were judged as being, to a great extent, in
of buildings, such as offices, schools and residential harmony by 6% of the respondent only.
buildings. Most respondents work with entire property
portfolios or premises with multiple buildings. Over Implemented measures and their assumed
one-third of the respondents represent management effect
and decision-making; a category expected to be • 71% of the respondents reported that improved
informed about any guidance from authorities and cleaning, hand hygiene, and limitation of the
relevant trade organizations. number of people in close contact were among the
actions undertaken.
The respondents were mainly involved in the require- • 54% of the respondents implemented ventilation-
ments specification, selection of technical solutions, related actions, and only 17% replied that ventilation
construction, and operation. Real-estate owners were was the only category of action undertaken.
the major single professional category represented, • A list of ventilation-related measures has been
followed by building operators, technical property extracted from the questionnaire results.
managers, developers/procurers, contractors, and • 68% of the respondents assumed that the imple-
consultants. mented measures had a good impact, at least partly,
on reducing the risk of disease transmission.
• 79% of respondents assumed that the measures had
The process towards taking action a good impact, at least partly, on creating a sense of
• Over 90% of the respondents decided to imple- safety and security.
ment – or not implement – changes or measures

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Reflections on the result: Identifying

Imbalances in Guidance Provided during different guidance on how to limit disease transmis-
the Pandemic sion in indoor environments.

Results from the survey study highlights an imbal- A final remark is that it is crucial to harmonize guidance
ance in the guidance provided during the pandemic, from all relevant sources, including authorities, trade
as illustrated by the diagrams in Figure 1. Specifically, organizations, industry, and academia, and efficiently
guidance from the Public Health Authority dominated distribute the message to all stakeholders to improve
strongly over any other guidance, with daily press our ability to handle future pandemics or similar events
conferences emphasizing physical distance and hand efficiently.
hygiene, while overlooking the possible importance of
ventilation and air cleanliness. In contrast, the Swedish In summary, the current setup with multiple sources
Work Environment Authority provided guidance pri- for guidance and information appears to result in a low
marily via their web portal, highlighting ventilation as implementation rate of guidance not directly proposed
an essential factor for air quality and for reducing the by the Public Health Authority. Thus, it is crucial to
risk of indoor disease transmission. establish a more coordinated approach to reduce imbal-
ances in guidance and better protect public health.
Other trade organizations, such as Svensk Ventilation
and the Nordic Ventilation Group (NVG scanvac.
The project continues
eu/nordic-ventilation-group-nvg.html) also provided
guidance in this regard, which mainly corresponded The findings of this survey study hold significant
to guidance provided by the European Federation implications for building owners, planners, and con-
of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning tractors. Based on the results, updated guidelines and
Associations (REHVA rehva.eu). checklists are recommended to ensure better prepared-
ness for similar pandemics in the future.
The survey shows that although some respondents
worked along the lines of the ventilation-related safety This effort is ongoing with a broad scope. The Building
precautions provided by trade organizations, this Post Corona team (buildingspostcorona.se/partici-
was not the direction pointed out by the influential pants) invites all relevant networks and consortiums,
Public Health Authority. Therefore, different Swedish including REHVA and its members, to join efforts,
authorities and trade organizations provided partly share ideas and explore collaboration opportunities.

Figure 1. The replies regarding the perceived value of the guidance provided by trade organizations (left) and
authorities (right).

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Control of airborne infections with

ventilation and air distribution in post
COVID pandemic
POSITION PAPER BY NORDIC VENTILATION GROUP

Edited by Guangyu Cao, Pawel Wargocki and Arsen Melikov

based on presentations and discussions in the NVG meetings and
presentations at the Nordic Ventilation Forum 2022

NORDIC VENTILATION GROUP - NVG

Nordic Ventilation Group is a group of academics sharing the same interest and concerns regarding the indoor climate and ventila-
tion. The objective of the Nordic Ventilation Group (NVG) is to develop Nordic ventilation technologies and services for good and
healthy indoor environment with an energy efficient and environmentally friendly way. The work is 100% voluntary and free from
commercial interest. Possible outcomes of the work can be published through various channels with the common agreement of
the group. Nordic Ventilation Group was very active in 80s and 90s when mechanical ventilation became more common in Nordic
counties. The group published several guidelines for measuring air flow rates and evaluating of the performance of ventilation. The
group is integrated with Scanvac activities. The history and objectives of the group are described in more details at www.scanvac.eu.

The members of the Nordic Ventilation Group:

•• Alireza Afshari, Professor, Aalborg University
•• Amar Aganovic, Associate Professor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
•• Gyangyu Cao, Professor, NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
•• Lars Ekberg, Associate Professor, Chalmers University of Technology
•• Per Kvols Heiselberg, Professor, Aalborg University;
•• Dennis Johansson, Associate Professor HVAC, Lund University
•• Risto Kosonen, Professor, Aalto University;
•• Jarek Kurnitski, Professor, TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology
•• Ivo Martinac, Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
•• Hans Martin Mathisen, Professor, NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
•• Arsen Melikov, Professor, DTU – Technical University of Denmark
•• Panu Mustakallio, Professor of Practice, Aalto University
•• Peter V. Nielsen, Professor emeritus, Aalborg University;
•• Manager of the group: Siru Lönnqvist, Secretary general, VVS Föreningen i Finland and SCANVAC

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T
he importance of airborne transmission of res- in case of Covid-19) (Nielsen and Xu, 2021). Recent
piratory infectious pathogens has been widely studies show that the infection probability for several
recognized. The World Health Organization occupant- targeted ventilation methods can be lower
(WHO) acknowledged inhaling infectious aerosols than mixing ventilation (MV) in a classroom (Su et
as one of transmission modes for spreading COVID- al., 2021). Compared to humidification at a constant
19. Airborne transmission refers to inhaling ventilation rate, increasing the ventilation rate to
virus-laden aerosols that can remain suspended in moderate levels will have a more beneficial infection
the air for extended periods and transported farther risk decrease for SARS-CoV-2, and the same trend is
than a conversational distance away from the infected found for other airborne diseases like measles, human
individual in a confined indoor space (WHO 2021). rhinovirus, and adenovirus (Aganovic et al., 2022).
Transmission over distances beyond two meters has However, ventilation systems will not work economi-
been documented and tends to be under preventable cally under normal conditions (no pandemic) if the
circumstances comparing short-range transmission, in ventilation systems of the future are designed to supply
which respiratory activities may play an important role large volumes of outdoor air during a pandemic.
(CDC, 2021, Amjadimanesh et al., 2022). Rethinking airflow distribution in rooms is necessary
to optimize system design and operation modes in
Moreover, the transmission of the infectious disease normal and pandemic situations. With traditional
varies by pathogen infectivity, reservoirs, routes, sec- methodology by dilution principle, this would be a
ondary host susceptibility, environment conditions very tough challenge, economically and technically,
(like temperature and relative humidity in confined requiring much more power, energy, size of duct/space
spaces), and ventilation performance, which includes etc. The optimal solution should use the supplied air
both quantitative performance, like ventilation airflow more rationally to create higher air quality around
rate, and qualitative performances, like indoor airflow the people. Therefore, it must be considered timely to
pattern. Besides the social distance and personal increase the focus on airflow distribution solutions that
hygiene-related guidelines recommended by WHO, ensure a well-ventilated occupied zone and breathing
increased ventilation and proper clean air distribution zone, and provide occupants with an optimal climate
also contribute to reduction of airborne transmis- where they live and work with a very low risk of trans-
sion. Furthermore, the latest studies advanced our mission of respiratory diseases.
understanding of transmission routes and the relative
importance of various mitigation strategies for pre- Nordic Ventilation Group of SCANVAC strongly
venting transmission. supports actions to develop effective technical and
non-technical solutions allowing sufficient protection
As engineering measures, ventilation solutions may against airborne transmission and the preparedness of
be feasible for mitigating the spread of respiratory buildings, other built environments, transportation
infection among occupants in both new buildings means, and society against the future epidemic.
and existing buildings. However, different ventila-
tion modes have different performances regarding
infection control indoors. Generally speaking, mixing
ventilation (MV) aims to dilute indoor contaminants
by mixing supplied clean air with polluted room air.
Displacement ventilation is based on moving clean air
supplied near floor to the breathing zone of a person
by the convective boundary layer existing around the
body at comfortable room temperatures. Exposure in
displacement ventilation (DV) may be rather sensitive
to the location of the infected occupant in a room and
to the movement of the exposed occupants as moving
people will destroy their inhalation protection typical
for DV (Bjørn and Nielsen, 2002; Halvonova and
Melikov, 2010). The infection probability with DV
seems lower than with MV, when people are in sitting
still and keeping their distance (> 1.5 m in case of
Covid-19) while DV will increase the infection prob-
ability when people are close to each other (< 1.5 m

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Conclusions Indoor air distribution

General statements regarding airborne
• Air distribution is critical for lowering the infection
transmission
probability in rooms with mechanical ventilation,
• Respiratory pathogens are airborne and can be air cleaner/purifier and natural ventilation.
transmitted over long distances (more than two • Dilution, removal, and deactivation of airborne res-
meters) within and between spaces in a building. piratory pathogens will reduce the risks of infection
• The long-range transmission depends on indoor indoors.
airflow patterns caused by ventilation, pressure • Occupant target ventilation with an advanced
(pressure difference over surrounding areas), occu- airflow distribution method may significantly
pants’ activities and temperature differences, air reduce the infection risk with relatively low energy
distribution as well as buoyancy effects. consumption (Su et al. 2022).
• The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that we • Personalized ventilation performed the best to
need to pay special attention to reducing airborne prevent cross-infection, followed by displacement
transmission while ensuring effective ventilation. ventilation, impinging jet ventilation, stratum
ventilation and wall attachment ventilation (with
Ventilation strategies deflector) (Su et al. 2022).
• The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the impor- • Personalized ventilation integrated with MV may
tance of a healthy indoor environment for humans. provide clean air directly to the breathing zone of
It urged a radical change in our view of reconsidering occupants while controlling the room air cleanliness
ventilation design and implantation to promote a with lower energy consumption.
safe indoor environment. • Protected occupied zone ventilation is able to
• The construction sector is therefore facing a new separate a room into two zones with a different
challenge - a paradigm shift in the design of future concentration level of contaminant (Aganovic et
ventilation in our buildings. al. 2022).
• Ventilation in more important in reducing infec-
tion risk due to exposure to respiratory pathogens Proposed actions in the post pandemic
than with other environmental conditions, like air • All regulations, building codes, standards, and
temperature and relative humidity. guidelines should be revised to ensure the prepared-
• Better ventilation solutions and indoor airflow dis- ness of buildings for periods with an elevated risk
tribution methods should be recognized as infection of airborne infection regarding the ventilation rates
control measures in various building sectors, com- and air distribution.
munities and societies. • Action plans should be available for technical per-
• In healthcare facilities, patient rooms and isolation sonnel and facility managers or anyone responsible
units should be negatively pressurized and avoid air for describing actions that need to be taken in
recirculation. The same recommendations apply to case of the elevated risk of airborne transmission
temporary isolation rooms for infected patients. of respiratory pathogens in buildings both during
epidemic and pandemic periods. These plans should
Ventilation rate describe activities during the non-pandemic period
• Increasing the ventilation rate from 0.5 ACH to securing the maintenance and proper operation
6 ACH may have a dominating effect on reducing of the building systems, which should be able to
the infection risk regardless of virus type. monitor indoor air quality (IAQ) used when the
• Increasing ventilation with outside air in existing risk of infection is increased.
buildings may not always be possible. In such cases, • Special technical solutions for the pandemic period
the effective ventilation rate per person can also be and proper operation of the existing systems should
increased by limiting the number of people in the be certified by eligible personnel.
buildings.
• It is necessary to rethink ventilation solutions in References
order to achieve a high level of indoor air quality
and to ensure the health and well-being of the Please find the list of references at
occupants. https://www.rehva.eu/rehva-journal

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 23

ARTICLES This article is based on a paper presented at the 42nd AIVC - 10th TightVent & 8th Venticool
Conference “Ventilation Challenges in a Changing World” held on 5-6 October 2022 in Rotterdam

Existing protocols for the inspection of

ventilation systems

NOLWENN HUREL VALÉRIE LEPRINCE

PLEIAQ Cerema
2 Avenue de Mérande 2 rue Antoine Charial
73 000 Chambéry, France 69003 Lyon, France
[email protected]

This paper aims at comparing the various national approaches on the inspection of ventilation
systems to help provide guidelines. A general summary on 21 inspection protocols is first
presented. Technical details collected through a survey are then given for 5 protocols
implemented in Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, France and USA.

Keywords: Inspection; ventilation; protocols; national approaches; summary; technical survey

Summary of existing protocols for the

In a context of energy use reduction, low energy inspection of ventilation systems
buildings are becoming more widespread. This kind
Types of protocols
of construction require a good envelop airtightness
to prevent uncontrolled leakages of conditioned air Only six countries have a mandatory protocol (by leg-
leading to energy losses. As a result, more and more islation or regulation): Poland, Belgium (in Flanders
ventilation systems are installed to ensure a sufficient only), Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Canada. The other
air change rate for a good indoor air quality. 15 protocols are mostly non-mandatory guidelines
(13) and two standards from France and the USA.
However, in practice many issues are found with
the installed ventilation systems not providing the Countries
expected flowrates. In France a study on 1287 dwell- Some countries have several protocols, with a maximum
ings showed that 68% do not meet the regulation of 7 in France, as illustrated in Figure 1.
(Jobert and Guyot, 2013). More and more countries
have a mandatory inspection of ventilation systems,
such as Sweden, Ireland, Germany and France.

This article aims at comparing the various approaches

to help provide guidelines on the inspection of ventila-
tion systems. It is based on an EPBD feasibility study
detailing 20 protocols from 9 countries (Durier et al.,
2019) with the addition of the new guide to comply
with Irish regulations and a survey addressed to various
countries for technical details. This article is based on
a paper presented at the 42nd AIVC - 10th TightVent
& 8th Venticool Conference “Ventilation Challenges
in a Changing World” held on 5-6 October 2022 in
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Hurel and Leprince, 2022),
including in particular the list of the 21 protocols from
10 countries summarized below.
Figure 1

24 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Type of buildings
Half of the mandatory protocols (3) and almost
half of the non-mandatory ones (7) are dedi-
cated to residential buildings only, while the
other half is for both residential and non-resi-
dential buildings. There is only one protocol,
in the USA, that does not include residential
buildings and is dedicated to commercial and
institutional buildings only. In this country,
the other protocol applies to apartments only
when each of them has its own/independent
ventilation system.

The Canadian protocol is aimed for health

care buildings only, that is to say hospitals,
laboratories, psychiatric and mental health
service facilities, long-term care homes and
residences for persons with developmental or
physical disabilities.

In Netherlands, the non-commercial build-

ings covered by the one protocol are only the
educational ones (Figure 2).

Inspection
Who is allowed to perform the
inspection?
Among the mandatory protocols, there is only
in Poland that has no specification about who
can operate the inspection. All other manda-
tory protocols allow or require (in Ireland and
Sweden) an independent inspector.

Non-mandatory protocols are overall more

flexible on who is performing the inspection,
with in particular most of them (11 out of 15)
allowing the installer to control (Figure 3). Figure 2

Figure 3

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 25

ARTICLES

What types of control are performed? Aspects covered by the inspection

All protocols cover the indoor air quality (IAQ) Most protocols cover a wide range of aspects as illustrated
aspect, except one in Finland; less than half of them below. For example, all mandatory protocols cover the
cover the energy performance and/or the acoustic control of cleanliness, general state and good overall
performance, and a quarter only cover the thermal operation of the ventilation system (VS), and more than
comfort aspect (Figure 4). half of all protocols cover also the completeness of the VS,
the adequacy between design and installation and a meas-
urement or assessment of the air flow rates (Figure 5).

Figure 4

Figure 5

26 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Periodicity of inspection
–– every 6 years for blocks of flats, office build-
About half of the protocols (mandatory or not) are ings etc. with mechanical exhaust and natural
intended for a single inspection. ventilation;
–– single inspection for one and two-dwellings
For the other half, concerning mandatory protocols: houses with mechanical exhaust with exchanger
ventilation and balanced ventilation.
• in Poland it is required to have an inspection at
least every 5 years, In Belgium, for the non-mandatory protocol the
• in the Ontario State since the protocol is for health guide proposes different inspection frequencies from
care facilities a periodicity of 6 months is required, 1 month to 3 year-intervals depending on the type
• in Sweden it depends on the type of buildings: of components: 1 month for filters, 3 months for the
–– every 3 years for day-care centres, schools etc. natural openings, air intakes, exhaust devices, 1 year for
with all types of ventilation; blocks of flats, office heat exchangers and fans, 3 years for ducts (Figure 6).
buildings etc. with balanced ventilation

Figure 6

Energy Efficient Renovation of Existing

Buildings for HVAC professionals

Energy Efficient Renovation of Existing Buildings for HVAC professionals.

This REHVA Guidebook shows the baseline for specific energy efficiency and other
renovation measures in existing buildings for which the HVAC systems play an
important role. It presents the best available techniques and solutions that can be
used as part of the energy modernization of the HVAC systems.

REHVA 40 RUE WASHINGTON 1050 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

+32-2-5141171 [email protected] WWW.REHVA.EU

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 27

ARTICLES

Technical questions - survey

Details of the 5 protocols
and USA for the non-mandatory protocol for resi-
A survey of 21 technical questions was sent to get to dential buildings. Only a few of the 21 questions are
know better how specific technical issues are handled addressed in this article, but they are all detailed in
for the inspection of ventilation systems according to (Hurel and Leprince, 2022).
the various protocols.
Note: In the illustrations of this survey, the flags have
5 answers were collected from 5 countries: Belgium, black edges for the countries with mandatory protocols
Ireland and Sweden for their mandatory protocols, and white edges for non-mandatory protocols.
France for the non-mandatory protocol “Promevent”

Flowrate measurement protocol

What are the preparations for the building before the measurements?

Concerning the preparation of the building before the measurements, the respondent from Sweden did not specify
about the opening of interior doors and sealing of ventilation openings in his answer. For the other protocols, the
interior doors must be closed for all but the US one and all trickle-vents must stay open (in France they cannot
be closable). Other specifications are required depending on the protocols (Hurel and Leprince, 2022).

Is there a minimum duration for the flowrate measurement or a constraint on the stability of
the flow?

In the USA the constraint is 10 second averaging (except for bag filling). In France the flowrate measurement
must last at least 10 seconds. In Belgium the minimum duration of the total measurement of the building is
20 minutes but there is no constraint on an individual ATD.

Is the flowrate measurement inside the ductwork an option?

The flowrate measurement inside the ductwork is an option for all protocols but the Irish one. In the USA, there
are limitations on distances to upstream and downstream fittings as specified by the instrument manufacturer. In
Belgium specific conditions for the ductwork measurement should be respected: e.g. minimum straight length
of the duct before and after. In practice it is only performed if measurement of ATD is not possible. In Sweden,
according to the regulations, flows must be measured in all branches of the systems.

28 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Measurement at ATD (air terminal devices)

What is done when the ATD is installed in a way preventing from positioning airtightly the
measuring device on the wall behind?

In the USA, the protocol does not address this issue directly, but it allows several alternative approaches including
in-duct measurement. In Belgium they use ductwork measurement, or other solution from set of allowed solutions
for measurement. Otherwise, they report “not measurable” (= 0 m³/h). In Ireland the issue is noted in report,
not dealt with specifically. In Sweden measurements are then made in the duct or with a “hook” in the device.
In France, airflow measurement is not possible in this case: measurement is not valid. If a pressure measurement
can be done instead, this can be a solution: then one should make sure that the measuring device is adapted to
the type of ATD.

Measuring devices
Are there requirements on measuring devices to be used according to the kind of ATD for
exhaust systems?

There are requirements on measuring devices according to the kind of ATD for exhaust systems for all protocols
but the Swedish one. In the USA, for an inlet terminal the airflow is permitted to be measured using a Powered
Flow Hood, using an Airflow Resistance Device or using a Passive Flow Hood. In Belgium it is advised to always
use stabilisation grid and largest hood, but the measurement is accepted without if the situation makes it not
possible. In France, for humidity sensitive ATD, only pressure measuring devices must be used whereas for the
other kinds of ATD, either pressure or airflow measuring devices can be used.

What is the calibration period for measuring devices?

A calibration period is defined in each protocol. In the USA, all equipment shall have their calibrations checked
at the manufacturer’s recommended interval and at least annually if no time is specified. In Belgium it is 2 years;
for flow devices and 5 years for power meters; in Ireland and Sweden it is one year and in France it is 2 years for
manometers and maximum 4 years for flow hoods.

Conformity / Non-conformity
How are non-conformities handled?

In Sweden every non-conformity should be corrected. In Ireland also, but it depends on flow rates. In the USA,
the protocol is a method of test not a regulation and does not cover the consequences of not meeting target flows.
In Belgium a table of non-conformities with sanction is available. Some should be corrected, some not. In France
all of the non-conformities should be mentioned in the report or in the grid of inspection, differentiating those
that relate to regulation or good practices.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 29

ARTICLES

For the dwelling to be conform:

There are two distinct approaches to consider a dwelling to be conform in terms of air flow rates. On one hand,
in France and in Ireland it is the total flowrate that is required to be conform. On the other hand, for the other
protocols (Sweden, USA and Belgium) every ATD shall be conform. In Sweden requirements for air flows are
calculated by a consultant on information from the user and regulatory requirements.

For a non-residential building to be conform:

The Belgium and Swedish protocols are the only two covering also non-residential buildings and require that
every room shall be conform.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the respondents to the survey: Iain Walker (LBNL) in the USA, Maarten De Strycker (BCCA)
in Belgium, Simon Jones (Aereco Ltd) in Ireland, Olof Nevenius (Funktionskontroll-anterna i Sverige) in Sweden and
Ariane Lesage (Cerema) in France.

This work was supported by BCCA and INIVE.

References

Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, 2019. Installation and Commissioning of Ventilation Systems
for Dwellings - Achieving Compliance with Part F 2019.

Durier, F., Wouters, P., De Strycker, M., Guyot, G., Sherman, M.H., Leprince, V., Urbani, M., 2019. Feasibility Study EPBD Art.
19a - Existing regulations, standards and guidelines on the inspection of ventilation systems, and other relevant
initiatives and projects (No. ENER/C3/2018-447/05). Client: European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy.

Hurel, N., Leprince, V., 2022. Inspection of ventilation systems – summary of existing protocols and technical survey.
Presented at the 42nd AIVC-10th TightVent- 8th venticool conference, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Jobert, R., Guyot, G., 2013. Detailed analysis of regulatory compliance controls of 1287 dwellings ventilation systems, in:
Proceedings of the 34th AIVC - 3rd TightVent - 2nd Cool Roofs’ - 1st Venticool Conference. Athens, Greece.

30 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

This article is based on a paper presented at the 42nd AIVC - 10th TightVent & 8th Venticool ARTICLES
Conference “Ventilation Challenges in a Changing World” held on 5-6 October 2022 in Rotterdam

Application of Indoor CO₂ in Response

to the Pandemic

ANDREW PERSILY OLUWATOBI OKE

National Institute of Standards and National Institute of Standards and
Technology Technology
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 USA Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 USA
[email protected]

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many recommendations to monitor
indoor CO₂ concentrations. However, the technical basis for these recommendations and
stated concentration limits are not always clear. This article discusses the application of
indoor CO₂ during the pandemic and identifies opportunities for improvement.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, guidance, infectious disease, health, ventilation

T
he COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the result, many organizations have made recommenda-
importance of ventilation in mitigating the tions for improved ventilation [1-2]. These include
spread of airborne infectious diseases. As a increased ventilation rates, higher efficiency filtration,

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 31

ARTICLES

and portable air cleaners. Real-time monitoring of The number of papers that mention “disease” OR
indoor CO₂ concentrations is also recommended as “infectious” increased even more dramatically in 2021.
an indicator of ventilation adequacy [3-5]. However,
guidelines for CO₂ monitoring vary, and their Tracer gas measurements of air change
technical bases are not fully described in all these rates and ventilation performance
recommendations. In addition, CO₂ has been used Many field studies have measured air change rates
in modeling and experimental studies motivated by using standard single-zone tracer gas decay or constant
the pandemic. injection, with the latter assuming steady-state CO₂
concentration. These measurements have been con-
The relationship of indoor CO₂ to ventilation and ducted in various settings, such as schools, gyms,
indoor air quality (IAQ) has a long history, dating back buses, and retail buildings, to evaluate transmission
centuries. These discussions have evolved to include risk or IAQ. In addition, some measurements have
1) the relationship between CO₂ and bioeffluent been done using transient or integral mass balance
odors, 2) the impacts of CO₂ on building occupants, analyses that are not standardized. Some studies have
3) the use of CO₂ as a tracer gas to measure air change been conducted in naturally ventilated spaces, but
rates and ventilation performance, and 4) outdoor air applying tracer dilution methods to these spaces can be
intake control using CO₂ concentrations. Recently, challenging due to the difficulty in achieving uniform
CO₂ has also been discussed in response to the tracer gas concentrations. A few studies used CO₂ as
pandemic in relation to the risks of airborne disease a tracer gas to measure air change rates in laboratory
transmission. The ASHRAE Position Document on chambers for air cleaner performance testing. These
Indoor Carbon Dioxide [5] describes the relationship environments are well-controlled, making measure-
of CO₂ to ventilation and IAQ, documenting the solid ments easier and the results more likely to be valid.
knowledge base that exists to support the application
of CO₂ monitoring and analysis. This article summa- However, these studies involving air change rate esti-
rizes how CO₂ monitoring and simulation have been mation vary in their discussion of key assumptions and
applied in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only inputs. For example, some studies lack detail on the
limited references are provided, with a more complete CO₂ generation rate, which varies based on occupancy.
list available in reference 6. The authors are pursuing In addition, some use measured outdoor CO₂ concen-
a more comprehensive scoping review that will be trations, while others use an assumed value, which may
published later this year. not be reliable given variations in outdoor concentra-
tions. Another critical assumption is that these tracer
gas methods assume the space being studied behaves
CO₂ applications in studies of COVID
as a single zone, but most studies do not mention or
In response to COVID-19, there have been several justify this assumption. Finally, measurement uncer-
research studies and guidance documents describing tainty is not usually reported, making it difficult to
the use of indoor CO₂, which are all based on estab- interpret results.
lished concepts. However, the technical basis for
the applications, recommendations, and supporting
documents is not always clear. This review considered
these applications, including tracer gas measurements 300
CO2+Ventilation+Indoor
of air change rates and ventilation performance, CO₂ 250 CO2+Ventilation+Indoor+(disease or infectious)
as an indicator or proxy of infection risk, indoor CO₂
Number of papers

concentrations as indicators of ventilation or IAQ, and 200

recommendations on the use of CO₂ monitoring. 150

As an indication of increased interest in CO₂, Figure 1 100

plots the number of papers published by year, based 50
on Web of Science searches, using the terms “carbon
dioxide ventilation building” and the same terms with 0
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
the addition of “disease” OR “infectious”. The number
of papers related to CO₂ and ventilation in buildings Year
has been increasing since 2014, with another increase
in 2021, presumably due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Figure 1. Number of papers related to indoor CO₂ as a
function of year (as of 23 Feb 2023).

32 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Indicator of exposure or infection risk

and an examination of the effectiveness of ventilation
Several studies have used CO₂ as an indicator or proxy in buses in Spain. Other studies present assessments
for exposure to infectious aerosols or infectious risk of ventilation and IAQ in a fitness club, a concert hall,
through measurements in the field of test chambers and some mechanically ventilated buildings. Many of
and simulations using computational fluid dynamics these studies simply report the measured CO₂ con-
(CFD). Experimental studies have been conducted in centrations, sometimes compared to a local limit, but
various space types, including concert halls, health- generally do not discuss the value of CO₂ as a ventila-
care facilities, and laboratory chambers. Some studies tion or IAQ metric. As discussed in [6], indoor CO₂
simultaneously measured CO₂ and airborne particle concentrations are not good indicators of overall IAQ
concentrations to study their relationship, while others but can serve as a measure of ventilation using tracer
used CO₂ concentration as an indicator of exposure gas concepts as discussed above.
or risk using the Wells-Riley equation. Others present
CO₂ as a risk indicator without explaining the basis CO₂ measurement for ventilation monitoring
for the connection. Many studies employ the concept or control
of rebreathed air, and some focus on the impact of Several studies using CO₂ measurement or analysis
specific activities like breathing, talking, or signing or have been conducted to investigate strategies for moni-
features such as ventilation rates, physical partition, toring or controlling building ventilation. While these
and filtration. studies generally do not quantify infection risk, they
are motivated by the need to manage risk. For example,
Several modeling studies have used CO₂ as an indi- one proposed feedback control strategy uses CO₂
cator of aerosol exposure and infection risk, using CFD monitoring as a function of scheduled airing periods,
to examine the impact of air distribution. Others used class duration, and masking to manage infection risk in
mass balance modeling to evaluate CO₂ variations in naturally ventilated classrooms. Another used metab-
space and time as exposure or risk indicators, some- olism-based ventilation control to reduce infection
times acknowledging that there is no direct evidence risk and energy use in gymnasiums. Others reviewed
correlating CO₂ concentrations with virus-containing CO₂ monitoring and ventilation recommendations,
aerosol levels. noting the challenges in linking CO₂ concentration
to infection rates and identifying concentration limits
While CO₂ has been used as a surrogate for infectious for different spaces.
aerosols, arguments exist for and against. Some reasons
for using CO₂ as a surrogate include the ability to
Indoor CO₂ concentration monitoring
capture the fate and transport of fine droplets and
simplicity. Reasons against include differences in As noted in the ASHRAE Indoor CO₂ Position
particle dynamics from gases, two-phase airflow of Document [6], there are numerous recommendations,
infectious aerosols, and the inability to capture dif- and in some cases requirements, to monitor indoor
ferences between particles with aerodynamic diameters CO₂ concentrations to manage the risks of airborne
relevant to virus transmission. infection, often with a reference concentration for
comparison or compliance. These concentrations are
Measurement of indoor CO₂ as an indicator based on CO₂ as an indicator of ventilation or as a
of ventilation and IAQ direct or indirect indicator of infection risk, but the
Many field studies of infection risk or building rationales presented are not always clear.
performance during the pandemic have included meas-
urements of CO₂ concentrations, generally as metrics Indoor CO₂ limits have been established for decades
of ventilation and IAQ. However, the links between for managing generic IAQ and sick building syndrome
CO₂, ventilation, and IAQ are not always explained. symptoms, usually around 1,000 to 1,500 ppm v.
In many cases, ASHRAE Standard 62.1 [8] is cited as During the pandemic, several organizations, and
the source of concentration limits of 1000 ppmv or governments have recommended monitoring indoor
700 ppmv above outdoors, despite the standard not CO₂ concentrations as an indicator of outdoor
containing either value. Other studies cite CO₂ limits ventilation rates [2-4]. However, measured CO₂
in documents associated with the country where the concentrations are not considered reliable proxies
measurements were conducted. for the risk of airborne exposure to the SARS-CoV-2
virus [9].
These studies include a survey of the indoor environ-
ments in taxis in Paris before and after the lockdown

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 33

ARTICLES

Conclusions
Many of these indoor CO₂ limits are based on CO₂
as an indicator of the outdoor ventilation rates, which This article summarized the application of indoor CO₂
implicitly involves using CO₂ as a tracer gas requires in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. CO₂ has
a target ventilation rate. However, the bases for these been used as a tracer gas to estimate air change rates
limits are not always explained. CO₂ limits based and as an indicator of ventilation or IAQ, which are
can be estimated using the requirements of ventila- not new concepts. Some studies have focused on CO₂
tion standards, e.g., CEN 16798 [10] or some other as a proxy for airborne infectious aerosols. However,
ventilation rate intended to control transmission. these applications do not always reflect a complete
The CO₂ limits that have been issued generally do understanding of the relevant mass balance theory,
not differentiate between space types, occupant char- building ventilation, and IAQ. The studies reviewed
acteristics, or required ventilation rates, despite their in this summary reinforce the need for better guidance
impact on indoor concentrations. A space-specific on the use of indoor CO₂, including measurement
CO₂ metric for ventilation has been developed that protocols and research on CO₂ emissions by building
considers the space, occupants, and target ventilation occupants, indoor CO₂ concentrations, and the rela-
rate [11], which can be applied using an online tool tionship between indoor CO₂ and airborne disease
called QICO₂ [12]. transmission.

References
[1] ASHRAE. (2022). ASHRAE Building Readiness Guide. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers. https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/covid-19/ashrae-building-readiness.pdf

[2] REHVA. (2021) REHVA COVID19 Guidance. Version 4.1. Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air
Conditioning Associations.

[3] CDC. (2021). Ventilation in Buildings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[4] EMG-SPI-B. (2021). Application of CO₂ monitoring as an approach to managing ventilation to mitigate SARS-CoV-2
transmission. UK Scientific Advisory Group of Emergencies, Environmental Modelling Group and Scientific Pandemic
Insights Group on Behaviours.

[5] EPA. (2022). Clean Air in Buildings Challenge. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-
quality-iaq/clean-air-buildings-challenge

[6] ASHRAE (2022). Position Document on Indoor Carbon Dioxide. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-
Conditioning Engineers.

[7] Persily, A. and O. Oke (2022). Application of Indoor Carbon Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic. 42nd AIVC
Conference. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: 700-709.

[8] ASHRAE (2022). ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

[9] AIVC. 2020. Can a measured CO₂ concentration show a building is SARS-CoV-2 safe? AIVC Newsletter, November issue,
Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre.

[10] CEN (2019). EN 16798-1:2019, Energy performance of buildings - Ventilation for buildings - Part 1: Indoor
environmental input parameters for design and assessment of energy performance of buildings addressing indoor
air quality, thermal environment, lighting and acoustics. Brussels, European Committee for Standardization.

[11] Persily, A. (2022). Development and Application of an Indoor Carbon Dioxide Metric. Indoor Air, 32(7), e13059.

[12] Persily, A. and B. J. Polidoro. (2022). Indoor Carbon Dioxide Metric Analysis Tool. NIST Technical Note 2213. National
Institute of Standards and Technology.

34 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Shower drain heat recovery

– an introduction
heating needs by insulating the buildings: the current
design target values are in the range 10 to 50 kWh/m²
LAURENT SOCAL year, depending on climate and building category.
Consultant
[email protected] Domestic hot water needs range around 10 to
25 kWh/m²year for the residential sector and they
are even much higher for hotels. They should be now
under special attention because their relative value in
the building energy balance has dramatically increased
Keywords: EPBD, CEN, Standards,
due to the reduction of energy needs and use for the
Domestic hot water, Heat recovery, Shower
other comfort services.

Domestic hot water needs do not depend on the

Executive summary building envelope. The possibilities to reduce the non-
renewable primary energy use and carbon emissions
In a context of reduced heating needs due to the are limited to:
increasing level of building insulation, the energy use
for domestic hot water has an increasing role. Waste • keeping a high efficiency of technical systems;
water heat recovery (WWHR in the following) is a • using renewable and zero carbon energy as a source
technology that allows to cover a significant part of the (renewables);
domestic hot water energy needs with heat recovered • and last but not least using heat recovery (recover-
from the shower drain. able).

The analysis of the technology shows the importance An option to reduce the environmental impact of
of the several factors that determine its efficiency in domestic hot water service is recovering heat from
the daily operation: the hot water flowing in the drain to the sewer to
pre-heat the incoming domestic cold water. Indeed,
• product related properties, like the heat exchanger heat recovery should precede using renewable energy,
efficiency as a function of the flow rates; which should be left only the final touch after having
• installation related properties, like the type of con- reduced the required output of the generation
nection of the WWHR device; sub-system.
• operation properties, like the effects of transients
when opening and closing the tap and the set-point The basic idea
temperature of the water heater (for type B and C The basic idea is straightforward: to recover heat from
connections see hereafter). the hot water flowing in the drain to pre-heat the
incoming domestic cold water.
Introduction
Heat recovery requires the simultaneity of the source
The context and destination heat flows, otherwise heat must be
In the past decades, given the EU climate and building stored. Simultaneity is guaranteed natively for showers,
envelope technologies, space heating needs where the which are the main application of waste water heat
dominant factor in determining the energy use of recovery. Showering is becoming a major use of
buildings, with values ranging from about 50 kWh/m² domestic hot water in buildings: showers are preferred
year for residential buildings in Mediterranean coun- to bathtubs in new houses and in renovations and
tries to more than 200 kWh/m² year in cold climates. where bathtubs are installed, they are often used to
Currently, there is an ongoing effort to reduce space take showers, too.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 35

ARTICLES

There is no simultaneity of draw-off and drain when The construction can be vertical or horizontal, as
taking a bath. Some heat recovery is still possible using shown in Figure 1.
a heat storage device but it is not the topic of this
article which is limited to instantaneous heat recovery. The separation between primary and secondary side
can be either single or double wall type, according to
the required level of tightness, which in turn depends
The technology
on the risk of contamination and/or uncontrolled
Waste water heat recovery device types and losses of water. In case of double wall separation, the
properties space between walls may be filled with an intermediate
A WWHR device is a counterflow (sometimes crossflow fluid to promptly identify any loss of tightness. There
because of installation constraints) heat exchanger where: is ongoing discussion about this topic.

• the drain water of the shower flows through the This article deals with:
primary side of the heat exchanger, which is the
heating side. The flow through the primary side is • instantaneous waste water heat recovery heat exchangers;
normally guaranteed by gravity. • energy efficiency topics.
• The domestic cold-water flows through the sec-
ondary side of the heat exchanger, which is the Functionality and safety requirements like e.g:
heated side. The flow through the secondary side
• head loss of the secondary side,
is guaranteed by the pressure of the domestic water
• maximum flow rate on both primary and secondary
distribution network.
side,
• time constant for cooling,
The instantaneous type relies on the fact that the
• level of tightness (single versus double wall),
primary and secondary flows are simultaneous, except
for an initial and final transient due to the water accu- are assumed to be satisfied for the correct operation
mulated in the shower basin. of the domestic hot water system.

Figure 1. Example of waste water heat recovery exchanger construction, vertical and horizontal type.

36 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Basic installation on a shower drain, type “A”

depending on the cold water temperature. The needed
connection
power is given by:
Basic connection and steady state operation
Figure 2 shows an example of the steady state oper- ̇
Φ𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 = 𝑉𝑉𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 × (𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ) × 𝜌𝜌𝑊𝑊 × 𝐶𝐶𝑤𝑤
ating conditions of a basic waste water heat recovery
installation on a shower drain using type “A” connec- (1)
tion (balanced operation).
where rW and Cw are the density and specific heat of
The heat recovery device is installed nearby the shower water. The other symbols are shown in Figure 2 and in
drain. The device is heating: the preceding text.

• both the cold domestic water feed to the domestic With 12°C cold water temperature, the power required
water heater; to take a shower ΦW;nd is around 24 kW. Assuming
• and the cold domestic water to the shower mixer a shower duration of 5 minutes, the required volume
(cold water tap). of water at the tap is 60 litres and the energy need for
each shower event is 1.95 kWh.
A bathtub and a sink are shown in Figure 2 to support
the discussion of the possible influence of other devices The recoverable heat
than showers. Not all the energy need is recoverable because the water
cools down in the shower box and in the drain pipe
The needs are represented by the 12.0 ℓ/min of from the shower outlet to the WWHR device inlet:
domestic hot water flow rate V’W;draw at the draw-off
temperature θW,draw = 40°C provided at the shower • the shower drain temperature θw,drain is assumed to
head. This can be turned into an needed power ΦW;nd be 35°C, according to an average user behaviour;

4,5 l/min 7,5 l/min

60,0 °C
θW;dis V' W;draw
12,0 l/m in
40,0 °C
θW;draw

θW;drain
35,0 °C

12,0 l/min
V' W;drain
28,1 °C

12,0 l/min

θW;cold
12,0 °C
12,0 l/min 12,0 l/min
V' W;wwhr

Figure 2. Basic installation – type A connection.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 37

ARTICLES

• the temperature drop in the connection from the The heat exchanger efficiency and the recovered
shower drain to WWHR device is assumed to be heat
negligible, unless there is a long connection pipe Depending on the heat exchanger design and sizing,
(several meters). not all the recoverable heat will be recovered.

In principle there is also a loss of mass flow rate in the The recovered power during steady state operation
shower, because of evaporation and/or leaks. This is ΦW;nd;rvd;ss is given by:
usually neglected and the flow rate at the drain V’W;drain
is assumed to be equal to the draw-off flow rate.
Φ𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟;𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = Φ𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 × 𝜂𝜂𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 (4)
Type A connection guarantees that the flow rates in
the WWHR device are balanced (V’W;wwhr = V’W;drain = where ηwwhr is the heat exchanger efficiency.
V’W;draw), so the recoverable power ΦW;nd;rbl is given by
The heat exchanger efficiency is defined as:

̇
Φ𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝑉𝑉𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 × (𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ) × 𝜌𝜌𝑊𝑊 × 𝐶𝐶𝑤𝑤 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝜂𝜂𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 = (5)
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
(2)

and the recoverable fraction of needs for type A con- The heat exchanger efficiency can be measured in refer-
nection kwwhr,rbl;A is given by: ence conditions and then interpolated and/or corrected
to actual operating conditions. More details are given
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 in the following.
𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟;𝐴𝐴 = (3)
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
Depending on the heat exchanger design and
where all symbols have been already defined.
sizing, only a fraction of the recoverable heat will
be recovered. This fraction depends on the heat
For the above example, as shown in Figure 2, the exchanger efficiency, which may be obtained by a
recoverable fraction is 82% of needs. test procedure.

Since the recoverable heat is proportional to the dif- The effect of the presence of other domestic hot
ference between: water uses
The drains from bathtubs and sinks can also be
• the drain temperature, which is assumed to be collected to the WWHR device inlet, as shown in
constant; Figure 3. This will obviously increase the amount of
• the cold-water temperature, which depends on the recovered heat, especially if the bathtub is used for
climate showers.

then, the recoverable heat fraction for this configura-

tion (type A connection):

• is not affected by the domestic hot water heater

temperature;
DHW
• does not depend on the WWHR device efficiency; heater
• decreases with increased cold-water temperature;

and therefore, WWHR devices are more interesting

in cold climates.
WWHR
A long and uninsulated connection between the device
shower drain and the WWHR device inlet may cause
a further reduction of recoverable heat. Usually, the
device is installed next to the shower and this loss is
negligible. Figure 3. Collecting several drains to a WWHR device.

38 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Effect of transient operation half of this heat capacity must be considered because
The above is correct after that the flow rates and the domestic water and drain water are respectively pre-
temperatures in the drain and in the preheated water heated and cooled along the WWHR device.
connections have reached a steady state operation
regime. During transient operation: Transient operation losses also depend on the use
pattern. Since transient losses are a given amount of
• at the beginning of showering, the domestic cold energy for each tapping event, their relative impact
water flowing through the WWHR device is not will be higher for small tapping events.
preheated until the warm water from the shower
drain reaches the inlet and fills the WWHR device; As a first approximation, the lost fraction of the recov-
• at the end of the showering, the domestic hot water ered heat because of the transient operation kwwhr;use;ls
flow is suddenly interrupted and: is given by
–– the warm water accumulated in the shower basin
𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡
will flow through the drain when the incoming 𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢;𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = (6)
cold domestic water flow through the WWHR 𝑉𝑉𝑠𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜
device is already interrupted and no more heat where:
recovery may happen;
Vtrans is the equivalent volume of water of the effec-
–– the preheated water will be trapped in the pipes
tive total heat capacity that has to cool down at each
and will cool down releasing its recovered heat
transient;
contents in the environment;
–– the recovered heat accumulated in the pipe walls Vshow is the volume of water drawn during a single
and heat exchanger material will be released in shower event (the product of shower flow rate by the
the environment as well. shower duration).

The initial transient does not cause any loss in the

heat recovery: as soon as the drain water reaches the
WWHR device, there is an established cold domestic
hot water flow and heat can be recovered.

The final transient causes the loss of the part of the

previously recovered heat:

• contained in the water and pipe materials of the pre-

heated water connections (from the WWHR device
outlet to the shower tap and/or to the domestic hot
water heater inlet);
• contained in the water accumulated in the shower
basin and in the connection from the shower outlet
to the WWHR device inlet;
• contained in the WWHR device itself, which
includes both its water contents and the heat
exchanger material.

The effect of the volume of hot water trapped in the

hot water distribution pipe from the water heater to
the shower tap is already covered by the final distribu-
tion losses.

The effect of transients is mostly depending on installa-

tion choices (shower basin size and shape, inner diameter
and length of preheated water pipes). The heat capacity
of the volume of water inside the WWHR device when
closing the tap (steady state operation volume) and of
the heat exchanger materials also contributes but only Figure 4. Volumes of water relevant for transient operation.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 39

ARTICLES

The complement to one of the lost fraction is called the • total volume of domestic hot water drawn during
utilisation factor of the WWHR device kwwhr;use and the shower event: 60 litres (5 minutes @ 12 ℓ/min);
it is the fraction of the recovered heat during steady
state operation which is actually recovered. the resulting total equivalent trapped volume is
5.8 litres (2 + 2.3 + 2/2 + 1/2) and the value of the
𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 = 1 − 𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢;𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (7) utilisation factor kwwhr;use is 1 − 5.8/60 = 0.90.

Other possible connections of a waste water

As an example, with the following assumptions (on heat recovery device to a single shower
the safe side): Introduction
Figure 2 illustrates the theoretically optimal connec-
• volume of water in the shower box and drain con- tion of the WWHR device. It is commonly identified
nection: 2 litres (includes all the water from the as “type A” connection. It may require a long connec-
shower head up to WWHR device inlet); tion from the WWHR device (which is usually installed
• volume of preheated water connections (15 m nearby the shower) back to the domestic hot water heater.
length with inner diameter 14 mm): 2.3 litres; For practical reasons (building layout and resulting length
• volume of water inside the WWHR device (sum of pipes), other connection schemes may be preferred.
of primary and secondary): 2 litres, half to be con-
sidered; Type B connection
• equivalent volume of water with the same heat Figure 5 shows the “type B connection”, where the
capacity of the heat exchanger materials: 1 litre, WWHR device only preheats the cold domestic
half to be considered; water supplied to the shower.

8,9 l/min
3,1 l/min

60,0 °C
θW;dis V' W;draw
12,0 l/m in
40,0 °C
θW;draw

θW;drain
35,0 °C

12,0 l/min

33,2 °C

θW;cold
12,0 °C
12,0 l/min 8,9 l/min
V' W;wwhr

Figure 5. Alternative installation – type B connection.

40 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

This connection is mainly used when several WWHR This makes type B connection more suitable with high
devices are connected to a common domestic hot water temperature heat generators, like boilers, direct electric
preparation system. heaters and CHP.

This connection allows to install the WWHR device near Type C connection
the shower, with minimum preheated water pipe length. Figure 6 shows the “type C connection”, where the
WWHR device only preheats the cold domestic
However, the flow is no more balanced and the water supplied to the domestic hot water heater.
maximum recoverable power is given by: Cold water is fed to the mixer of the shower.

In case of retrofit, this connection does not require

Φ𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝑉𝑉̇𝑊𝑊;𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 × (𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ) × 𝜌𝜌𝑊𝑊 × 𝐶𝐶𝑤𝑤 to modify the domestic hot water distribution and is
often easily accessible.
(8)
However, the flow is no more balanced and the
where V’W;wwhr is the flow rate of cold water through the maximum recoverable heat is given by:
WWHR device, rW and Cw are the density and specific heat
of water and the other symbols are shown in Figure 5.
Φ𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝑉𝑉̇𝑊𝑊;𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 × (𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ) × 𝜌𝜌𝑊𝑊 × 𝐶𝐶𝑤𝑤
The flow rate through the WWHR device V’W;wwhr
depends on the domestic hot water heater set point (10)
but also on the efficiency of the WWHR device: the
higher the efficiency of the WWHR device, the higher Where V’W;wwhr is the flow rate of cold water to the
the recoverable heat. The recoverable fraction of needs WWHR device, rW and Cw are the density and specific
for type B connection kwwhr;rbl;B is given by: heat of water and the other symbols are shown in
Figure 6.
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑟𝑟𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏;𝐵𝐵 = ×
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 ∙ (𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 )
The flow rate through the WWHR device does not
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑟𝑟𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏;𝐵𝐵 = × depend on the efficiency of the WWHR device. It is
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 ∙ (𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 )
given by:
(9)
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
𝑉𝑉̇𝑊𝑊;𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 = 𝑉𝑉̇𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 × (11)
where (see Figure 5) θW;dis is the domestic hot water 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
temperature in the distribution circuit, equal to the
set-point temperature of the domestic hot water heater.
Therefore, the recoverable fraction of needs for type C
This dependency of the recoverable heat on the connection kwwhr;rbl;C is given by:
WWHR device efficiency may require some itera-
tions in the calculation procedure. As an example, for 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
the given conditions in Figure 5 and with a WWHR 𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟;𝐶𝐶 = (12)
𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 𝜃𝜃𝑊𝑊;𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
device efficiency of 75%, the recoverable heat is 53 %
of the domestic hot water needs and the recovered heat
40%. For consistency, the efficiency of the WWHR As an example, for the given conditions in Figure 6,
device has been assumed somewhat higher than in the the recoverable heat is 48 % of the domestic hot water
type A connection due to the reduced flow rate in the needs and the recovered heat 38%.
domestic water (secondary) side.
The recoverable heat for type C connection:
The recoverable heat for type B connection:
• decreases with higher storage temperature (lower
• increases with higher storage temperature (higher flow rate through the WWHR device);
flow rate through the WWHR device to the cold- • does not depend on the WWHR device efficiency;
water connection of the shower); • decreases with higher cold-water temperature.
• increases with higher WWHR device efficiency;
• decreases with higher cold-water temperature.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 41

ARTICLES

The impact of system design and commissioning choices

The graph in Figure 7 shows the maximum
recoverable percentage of needs kwwhr;rbl Maximum recoverable percentage of needs
depending on connection type (A, B and 100%
C) and domestic hot water heater set-
90%

Percentage of recoverable needs %

point (40°C to 60°C) with the following
80%
assumptions:
70%
• draw off temperature 40°C; 60%
• shower drain temperature 35°C; 50%
• cold water temperature 12°C. 40%
30%
For type B connection, the recoverable part
20%
of needs also depends on the WWHR device
10%
efficiency, therefore the graph includes the
curves for efficiency 25, 50, 75 and 100%. 0%
40,00 42,00 44,00 46,00 48,00 50,00 52,00 54,00 56,00 58,00 60,00

DHW Heater set-point °C

The impact of the connection type is evident
but also that of the domestic hot water heater TYPE A TYPE B - eff 100% TYPE B - eff 75%
TYPE B - eff 50% TYPE B - eff 25% TYPE C
set-point. A lower set-point (than 60°C) is
beneficial for the recoverable heat of type C
connection whilst it can seriously reduce the Figure 7. Recoverable fraction of domestic hot water needs kwwhr;rbl.
recoverable heat with type B connection.

5,0 l/min
7,0 l/min

60,0 °C
V' W;draw
12,0 l/m in
40,0 °C
θW;draw

θW;drain
35,0 °C

12,0 l/min
30,4 °C

θW;cold
12,0 °C
12,0 l/min 7,0 l/min
V' W;wwhr

Figure 6. Alternative installation – type C connection.

42 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

Heat recovery with several showers Summary

It is common to have more than one shower in a single- This preliminary analysis highlights the influencing
family house or in a medium to large building unit. factors that should be taken into account in the cal-
Additionally, heat recovery may be applied to locker culation methods:
rooms showers of sports halls where arrays of showers
are installed. • the connection scheme for each WWHR device
(de facto standardised as “A” to “C”), which deter-
If there are several showers, using type A connection: mines the recoverable heat identified as the fraction
kwwhr;rbl of needs (see Figure 7);
• either the drains are collected to a unique common • the efficiency of the heat recovery device ηwwhr,
WWHR device, suitably sized for the maximum which determines the fraction of recoverable heat
simultaneous drain flow rate (similar to what is which is actually recovered;
shown in Figure 3 but all showers); • the effect of transient operation, depending on;
• or, if multiple heat recovery devices are required to –– the volume of preheated water and drain water
serve several showers, the devices should be con- in the pipes, WWHR device and shower basin;
nected in series on the cold-water side. –– the use pattern (volume of water for each of
tapping event);
The second option will cause a reduction of the heat which causes the loss of part of the previously
recovery efficiency due to additional heat losses of the recovered energy; this is taken into account by
preheated domestic water flowing through inactive applying the utilisation factor kwwhr;use;
WWHR devices and may also cause a high pressure
drop of domestic water. • the effect of multiple WWHR devices connection.
In total the net recovered heat QW;wwhr;rvd is given by:
In both cases a preheated domestic water distribution
pipe is required to feed all showers.
𝑄𝑄𝑊𝑊;𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝑄𝑄𝑊𝑊;𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 × 𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟;𝑋𝑋 × 𝜂𝜂𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟 × 𝑘𝑘𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑟𝑟;𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢
Type B connection may be used independently on each
one of multiple showers or groups of showers. Each (13)
shower (or group of showers) is an independent heat
recovery installation where the symbols have been defined in the text and
kwwhr;rbl;X is the recoverable fraction of needs for con-
Type C connection requires a series connection of nection type X, which may be A, B or C.
the WWHR devices on the cold-water side, like for
type A connection but no change is required in the It is important to distinguish between:
cold and hot domestic water distribution piping.
• the influencing factors depending on product prop-
erties, such as WWHR device steady state efficiency,
Effect of the opening of other taps
water volume contents during steady state operation
Given the configurations shown in Figures 2, 5 and 6, and heat capacity of heat exchanger materials;
if other taps are opened during WWHR device opera- • versus influencing factors depending on installation
tion, the effect is a slight increase of heat recovery for choices and use properties, such as the total volume
type A and type C connection. Type B connection of preheated water connections and the volume of
operating conditions are independent from other water drawn at each tapping event.
devices unless the drain of other devices is collected
to the same WWHR device. so that product dependent influencing factors can be
properly identified by product testing without influ-
If the drains of all devices of a bathroom are collected ence of the test setting properties.
to the waste water heat recovery of a shower, this may
provide some additional domestic hot water heat
recovery when warm water is discharged.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 43

ARTICLES

Recent developments on Environment

Product Declarations (EPDs) for HVAC
products in Europe
For sufficient granularity, LCA for buildings follow
European Standard EN 15978 by summing the
THOR ENDRE LEXOW quantified impacts per indicator and life-cycle stage.
M.Sc. CEO of Norwegian HVAC & The analysis covers all stages of the product life cycle
Refrigeration Association (VKE); (see Figure 1), which are:
EUROVENT country-representative
[email protected] • Production stage (incl. raw material supply and
transport): Stages A1-A3.
• Construction stage (incl. installation on site): Stages
What is LCA? A4-A5.
• Use-stage (incl. energy, use of water, repairs): Stages
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a systematic method B1-B7.
to analyse the potential environmental impacts of • End-of-life stage (incl. waste disposal): Stages
products or services during their entire life cycle, C1-C4.
where CO₂-equivalent emissions are one of several • Finally, beyond life-cycle impacts, e.g. reuse and
core environmental impact indicators to be declared. recycling. Stage D.
Standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 define the
general framework for LCA with broad applicability, The assessment is so comprehensive that, for example,
but limited granularity. that two completely identical HVAC products

Figure 1. Stages in a building’s life cycle as defined in EN 15978. [Figure reproduced from “Bæredyktigt byggeri”,
Energistyrelsen, 2015]

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manufactured in the same factory in Europe will have core rules for construction products. EPDs were first
different environmental performance if the steel in the developed for basic construction elements such as steel,
two products is sourced from a steelworks that changes concrete, brick, or windows, whilst there has been a
its electrical supply mix or source of iron ore. significant lack of EPDs for technical building services
including HVAC products. However, Nordic HVAC
manufacturers are starting to publish large numbers
What is an Environmental Product
of validated EPDs.
Declaration – EPD?
An EPD is information on the environmental impact Previously EPDs were usually published solely as PDF
of a product throughout its life cycle, including CO₂- documents, but there is growing need for computer-
equivalent emissions. EPDs are typically used as input readable EPD data formats such as the new EN ISO
to a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) at building-level. 22057. According to EN 15804, EPDs should be
published in a standardised digital communication
The most common type of EPD is a “Type III format. This is necessary for utilization of EPDs within
Environmental Performance Declaration”, which is a BIM-environment.
verified by an independent third-party in accordance
with standard ISO 14025. Type III EPDs are based
Different types of EPDs and their data
on predetermined/standardized set of rules and envi-
quality
ronmental data. Type III environmental declarations
are the basis for labelling schemes such as Eco-Leaf An EPD may contain specific data for actual products
and Eco-profile. In the following, I call Type III EPDs or be more generic based on average data for a product
simply as “EPDs”. category. Examples include:

The use of EPDs in European construction was stim- • Generic EPDs representing an average for a product
ulated by European Construction Product Regulation category.
(CPR 305/2011), and its seventh basic requirement • Industry-average EPDs for a specific product group
“Sustainable use of natural resources”. EPDs for con- and geographical market.
struction products are developed based on the already • Product-specific EPDs for a specific product from
mentioned ISO 14025, and EN 15804 which gives a specific manufacturer.

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How is an EPD typically used?

• Project-specific EPDs for a specific project,
including the environmental impact of transporta- EPDs typically provide information about a specific
tion from supplier to the construction site. product. This information is relevant when performing
a building-level LCA analysis. However, contrary to
In most European countries both the market and the the impression of many stakeholders in the building
authorities have set greenhouse gas emission require- industry, extreme care must be taken when com-
ments for new and major renovation of buildings. paring the environmental performance of competing
EPDs are the preferred sources of information for products. This is because EPDs are often based on
meeting these requirements. different assumptions, rendering them non-compa-
rable. For example, the EPDs for two air handling
unit products may have different capacities, operating
Are EPDs mandatory?
times, replacement intervals, different components,
EPDs for construction and HVAC products are not and the air filters may have different quality and
currently mandatory. However, ongoing developments lifespan. One means to ease this issue is harmonized
in many EU Member States related to the integra- documentation by Product Category Rules (PCR);
tion of LCA calculations in national Building Codes another is that end-users of EPDs should assess whole
and voluntary schemes for assessing sustainability and system-level performance. This involves collecting all
environmental performance of buildings, are driving relevant EPDs for a building, ensure that all stages are
HVAC manufacturers to publish EPDs for their accounted for (many EPDs have missing stages), and
products. make realistic assumptions about the use-stage.

Who can issue an EPD? What are Product Category Rules (PCR)?
ISO 14025 requires that a Type III EPD be inde- As mentioned above, the ISO standards setting out the
pendently verified. In practice this means that data framework for LCA calculations necessary for EPDs
from LCA and information modules are verified by a are very general. Guidance on preparation of EPDs for
third party licensed by an EPD Programme Operator, specific products are supplemented in Product Category
and the EPD is issued by the programme operator. Rules (PCRs). Normally PCRs are developed individu-
Many operators harmonize their practice as members ally by each EPD programme operator, as shown in
of umbrella organization ECO Platform (www.eco- Figure 2. For construction products including heating,
platform.org). cooling, lighting and ventilation components, the

Figure 2. Illustration of the stages in the framework for development of EPDs. [Figure reproduced from Wikipedia
“Environmental Product Declaration”, licensed under CC BY-SA.4]

46 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

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CEN standard EN 15804 with core rules, referencing VKE’s members, after the generator has been verified
EN 15978 for LCA, are the core rules to be followed. and approved, can develop verified EPDs themselves
In addition, relevant Complementary Product Category and can develop and verify their own EPDs.
Rules (c-PCR) which provide additional compliant and
non-contradictory requirements to EN 15804, shall
Picking the best environmental HVAC
be used when available.
products based on LCA
If the EPD for a ventilation product (e.g. air handling Comprehensive greenhouse gas calculations used
unit) is based on the core rules of EN 15804, which for planning, construction, operation and procure-
does not address the use-stage (i.e. operational energy ment are necessary to make the best environmental
use and maintenance), the use-stage modules of choices related to products and solutions. EPDs are
LCA are not declared, or declared optionally based on fundamental to being able to carry out greenhouse
a predefined scenario. These assumptions (scenarios) gas calculations for the construction and operation
should be then declared in the EPD but they can vary of buildings.
considerably between EPD programme operators.
However, a c-PCR (complimentary PCR) may be It is important to remember that comparison of the
defined and used for the specific product category. environmental performance of HVAC products using
the EPD information shall be based on the product’s
use in and its impacts on the building and shall
Development of a complimentary PCR and
consider the complete life cycle. EPD that are not in
EPD-generator for ventilation products
a building context are not tools to compare construc-
The Norwegian HVAC & Refrigeration Association tion products.
(VKE) has recently focused on developing c-PCR and
EPD resources specifically for ventilation products. HVAC products will be installed and used in many
The c-PCR is published as NPCR 030:2021. different kinds of systems in buildings with completely
The ultimate aim of the project is to develop and different use. The performance over the lifecycle will
verify a EPD “generator” to develop, verify and register be highly dependent on occupancy patterns, e.g.
machine-readable EPDs for their products, that can indoor air quality, ventilation rates, internal air tem-
be shared with customers. peratures, tapping patterns for domestic hot water
etc. The proper scenario for the use-stage for the
The most rational and affordable way to prepare actual buildings must be applied in the LCA when
EPDs, if a manufacturer has a large number of dif- assessing the environmental performance. The use-
ferent products and varieties, is to use a EPD generator. stage scenarios for different building categories are
When an EPD is developed in a semi-automated EPD often standardised in national building codes and used
generator (such as https://lca.no/epd-generator/), then for energy performance calculations such as energy
the generator itself must be verified. This means that performance certificates.

References
NPCR 030:2021 “Part B for ventilation components”, 2021 https://www.epd-norge.no/pcr-register/npcr-030-2021-part-b-
for-ventilation-components-references-to-en-15804-a2-article3282-353.html.

EN-ISO 14025:2010 “Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations - Principles and procedures”.

EN-ISO 14040:2006 “Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework”.

EN-ISO 14044:2006 “Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines”.

EN 15804:2012+A2:2019/AC:2021 “Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations — Core rules

for the product category of construction products”.

EN 15978:2011 “Sustainability of construction works - Assessment of environmental performance of buildings - Calculation

method”.

EN-ISO 22057:2022 “Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works — Data templates for the use of environmental
product declarations (EPDs) for construction products in building information modelling (BIM)”.

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Comparative LCA of Water Installation Tube

Systems based on Copper, PEX-Al and PEX
and water distribution infrastructure. The function
dispensed by the product system is the supply of hot
OLIVIER TISSOT
and cold water within a dwelling to provide water
Project Manager at
supply at the point of use such as a washbasin or
European Copper Institute
[email protected] lavatory. The functional unit is defined as the ‘System
supplying hot and cold water to an apartment of an
area of 100 m2 and the installation is dimensioned
Foreword according to EN 806. The installation design is iden-
tical for all three tube systems and the same conditions
The study conducted by Sphera and led by Dr. are taken into consideration, such as entry data, for
Constantin Herrmann investigates how copper all three systems (e.g., operating pressure). This unit,
tubing affects the environmental impact of drinking defined according to the function, allows for adequate
water installations systems over its entire life cycle, comparability between the three different systems.
and compares them with those of drinking water
installation systems based on multilayer aluminium-
Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)
cross-linked plastic polyethylene (PEX-Al) and plastic
methodology and system boundaries
cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) in Europe.
This assessment predominantly reports on the EN
The study was critically reviewed by an external scientific 15804 impact assessment indicators that are based
panel of three independent reviewers (per the require- on Environmental Footprint v3.0 impact assessment
ments of ISO 14040/44 and ISO/TS 14071, 2014). methods. According to EN 15804 (EN 15804+A2,
In accordance with the ISO requirements (ISO 14044, 2019/2020) system boundaries are equivalent to a
2006), the overarching international standard for LCA, cradle-to-gate with options EPD including modules
this document aims to report the results and conclusions A1-A5, C1-C4 and module D. Modules B1-B7 are
of the LCA completely, accurately and without bias to excluded. The reference service life (RSL) is identical
the intended audience. The results are presented in a for all investigated systems. The systems are supposed
transparent manner and in sufficient detail to convey to serve the entire typical building lifetime of a
the complexities, limitations, and trade-offs inherent in minimum of 50 years (EN 15978, 2011/2012) and
the LCA. This allows the results to be interpreted and are typically also applicable for longer duration.
used in a manner consistent with the goals of the study.
All background data are taken from the latest GaBi data-
bases 2020 (Sphera Solutions GmbH, 2020a) and reflects
Product Function(s) and Functional Unit
the most recent and updated industry data on all relevant
The water installation systems considered are installed upstream (e.g., energy, intermediates, resources etc.) and
in houses and apartments as part of the larger plumbing downstream processes (e.g., waste treatment etc.).

SYSTEM BOUNDARIES:
Included Excluded
 Individual installation system supplying water within  Common distributive installation supplying water to
the apartment apartments
 Raw material provision and manufacture of all  Use stage (modules B1-B7)
components, types and parts the installation of a  Overheads, infrastructure and other indirectly related
system’s needs (modules A1-A3) aspects
 Transport to site and installation of the system into the
apartment (modules A4-A5)
 End of Life (EoL) efforts as well as credits (modules
C1-C4 and D)

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LCIA Results
The LCIA results of all three product systems have been
The reported impact categories represent impact calculated for ten impact categories (climate change as
potentials and are approximations of environmental one aggregated value) according to EN 15804, only the
impacts that could occur if the emissions would follow most impactful regarding the green energy transition
the underlying impact pathway and meet certain con- are shown in table below (see ANNEX for full results).
ditions in the receiving environment while doing so.
In addition, the inventory only captures that fraction The figures 1-3 on the right show the contribution of
of the total environmental load that corresponds the life cycle stages A, C and D, for the three systems.
to the chosen functional unit (relative approach).
LCIA results are therefore relative expressions only Benefits from module D (green), the possibility of the
and do not predict actual impacts, the exceeding of substitution of copper cathode, lower the overall impacts
thresholds, safety margins or risks. of all impact categories. Landfilling and the incinera-
tion of waste without credits (worst case approach) in
The EoL stage is of particular importance for copper module C (grey) only shows positive impacts.
tubing. It consists of five steps, modules C1-C4 and
module D. The copper looped scrap is based on the For the PEX-Al and the PEX system, waste incineration
sum of scrap from manufacturing of copper tubes and in module C (grey) and credits in module D (green)
the EoL of the system. Recycling, such as the EoL result in net negative impacts for eight out of the ten
recycling rate and recycling content (e.g., apart dissipa- impact categories, of which ODP and ADPm are so low
tive loss, copper is infinitely recyclable) for the assessed that they can be neglected. Only GWP and AWARE
tubing systems are industry averages in accordance have higher C impacts than D credits.
with state-of-the-art industrial practices and expert
judgement. It represents a quantified illustration of
an exemplary circular economy model.

Impact Description Unit

Category

Climate A measure of greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO₂ and methane. kg CO₂
change, Global These emissions cause an increase in the absorption of radiation equivalent
Warming emitted by the earth, increasing the natural greenhouse effect, and (CO₂ eq.)
Potential has adverse impacts on ecosystem health, human health and material
(GWP) welfare.

Acidification A measure of emissions that cause acidifying effects to the moles H+

Potential (AP) environment. The acidification potential is a measure of a molecule’s equivalent (H+
capacity to increase the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration in the eq.)
presence of water, decreasing the pH value. Potential effects include
fish mortality, forest decline and the deterioration of building materials.

Resource use, A measure of the total amount of non-renewable primary energy MJ (net
fossil fuels and extracted from the earth. Resource use is expressed in energy demand calorific value)
energy carriers, from non-renewable resources including both fossil sources (e.g.
Abiotic petroleum, natural gas, etc.) and uranium for nuclear fuel. Efficiencies
Depletion in energy conversion (e.g. power, heat, steam, etc.) are taken into
Potential fossil account.
(ADPf)

Water Use An assessment of water scarcity accounting for the net intake and m³ of water
(AWARE) release of fresh water across the life of the product system considering equivalent (m³
the availability of water in different regions. The method is also called world eq.)
Available Water Remaining (AWARE).

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100 %
80 %
60 %
40 %
20 %
0%
-20 %
-40 %
GWP ODP AP EPf EPm EPt POCP ADPm ADPf AWARE

A C D

Fig 1. Copper

100 %
80 %
60 %
40 %
20 %
0%
-20 %
-40 %
GWP ODP AP EPf EPm EPt POCP ADPm ADPf AWARE

A C D

Fig 2. PEX-Al

100 %
80 %
60 %
40 %
20 %
0%
-20 %
-40 %
GWP ODP AP EPf EPm EPt POCP ADPm ADPf AWARE

A C D

Fig 3. PEX

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Comparison
The comparison of the results of the three systems for
each impact category shows the absolute values for
modules A, C and D (left column for each system) as
well as the net total (right column for each system).
It is emphasized that the baseline for a comparison
refers to the separately displayed modules excluding
module D as it refers to future life cycles with credits
from avoided primary material beyond the product
system under consideration. However, the closed-
loop market for copper is so much established that
the module D credits belong to a state-of-the-art
market situation. Therefore, the comparison can be
seen twofold, one with modules A and C only and
one including module D. For simplification, the net
credit value is displayed and has to be understood
as additional information.

1 - Global Warming Potential

The PEX and PEX-Al Systems show similar results
for the sum of A and C (44 and 46 kg CO₂ eq.)
while the Copper System is linked to lower GWP
results of 36 kg CO₂ eq. The benefits outside the
product system in module D provide a remark-
able upside for the copper system compared to the
PEX-Al system and the PEX system (Cu: -10.9,
PEX-Al –5,92, 46% difference to Cu, PEX –8,10,
26% difference to Cu) This results in 25 kg CO₂
eq. for the copper system compared to the 38 kg
CO₂ eq. of the two PEX systems. (Fig.4)

2 - Acidification Potential
Both PEX-based systems (Modules A+C) are related
to significant lower acidification potential than the
copper system. However, including benefits from
module D, the copper system is reduced to compare
almost equally to PEX-Al (some influence). (Fig.5)

3 - Abiotic Depletion Potential Fossil

Both PEX-based systems are related to highest fossil
abiotic depletion potential and are relevantly higher
compared to the copper system for both situations,
the modules A and C as well as at the net total. (Fig.6)

4 - Water Use
From a net total perspective, PEX-Al has the highest
potential impact in the AWARE category. This is
based on the water consumption for manufacturing,
which does face lower potential credits in module D
compared to the impacts of C. This causes the net
potential impacts of the PEX-Al system to be signifi-
cantly higher than for the copper system, whereas
the net impacts of the PEX system are still relevantly
lower than those of the copper system. (Fig.7)

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Conclusion
the recyclability of copper provides potential credits
Within the three systems of consideration, the mate- in module D in future product life cycles, so that the
rials and their fabrication dominate between 85 and net total values show a clear advantage (lower values)
90 percent of the life cycle. The copper tubing system for copper compared to PEX-Al as well as PEX.
provides potential credits from recycling in module D This applies to ADPf in the same way, for which
in future product life cycles. The PEX systems instead even module A+C is already lower. AP shows higher
are linked to benefits from energy recovery of the incin- impacts from of the copper system for module A+C
eration. The balance between impacts from material but are potentially reduced by module D down to a
incineration and credits from energy systems is also comparable level as the PEX based systems. For water
seen from the high dynamic European energy systems consumption (AWARE) the module A+C of copper
change due to energy transition towards low carbon is higher than the PEX systems, but rank in between
energy—changes specifically for impact categories such both (lower than PEX-Al, higher than PEX) using net
as GWP, AP, ADPf and AWARE are then likely to occur. total values.

The comparative LCA shows that the copper-based Additionally, the copper system has even more reduc-
water tube installation system is equally in the level of tion potentials from material savings and avoidance
environmental impact for module A+C compared to of primary material as the sensitivity and scenario
PEX-Al and PEX (lead indicator GWP). In addition, analyses show.

52 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

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MODERATE: Marketable Open Data

Solutions for Building Energy
Optimisation
JASPER VERMAUT, EU Policy & Project Officer, REHVA
FRANCESCA CONSELVAN, Data Scientist Researcher, e-think Energy Research
DANIELE ANTONUCCI, Senior Researcher, EURAC Research
PHILIPP MASCHERBAUER , Researcher Associate, Vienna University of Technology
CRISTIAN POZZA , MODERATE Coordinator & Senior Researcher, EURAC Research

MODERATE is a Horizon Europe funded project that started in June 2022. Its aim is to develop
a marketplace platform that improves availability and interoperability between datasets for
the building industry, leveraging open data and open-source solutions. The objective is to
promote data exchange between different producers and consumers while complying with
legal and ethical constraints. The project innovates building data collection, synthesis, and
services for management, optimization, and decision-making.

M
ODERATE aims to create a fully open 2. Analysing the data through data-driven services:
platform that offers open data and data- The platform will include ten data-driven services
driven services. Large and diverse datasets that transform raw data into meaningful knowl-
will be available on buildings of different types, such edge. These services cover different aspects of the
as residential, commercial, and offices. Different data- building industry and work with static, dynamic
driven services and software pipelines will also be or both types of data.
accessible as open-source solutions, allowing targeted
users to test solutions before investing in tailored The platform allows data owners to retain control of
development. Ultimately, the availability of data their own data while enabling its use in a wider market
and services will bridge the gap between confidential for experts.
data, low-quality, or unavailable data and informed
decision-making, with the final goal of reducing
Data synthetisation techniques for secure
carbon emissions and mitigating climate change in
data exchange
the building sector. This article focuses on two com-
ponents of the MODERATE platform that contribute The increasing use of building monitoring and control
to the enhanced use of building data: systems has created an opportunity for data-driven
approaches in the construction sector. However,
1. Improved data collection and exchange through security and privacy concerns retain companies to share
data synthetisation: The platform uses data syn- their data. Synthetic data can be used as an alternative,
thetisation techniques to ensure that sensitive since it masks any sensitive information, like household
data is anonymised, but most of the data’s value or person’s identity, and maintains the original statis-
is retained for analysing building performance. tical properties. This ensures that no confidentiality
Data synthetisation makes it more secure for data or privacy issues are breached, while the quality of
owners to share their data and complies with the data remains very high. Additionally, synthetic data
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). allows for high scalability of data and different data
This way, the MODERATE platform can sources can be merged to generate an enriched dataset
combine multiple datasets within the building to analyse data at a more aggregated level.
sector and obtain aggregated results.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 53

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Synthetic data is increasingly being used in the energy that uses two neural networks to generate new data.
sector for various applications, like a prediction of The two networks, the generator and the discriminator,
energy demand [1], fault detection in energy systems compete with each other in a game of cat and mouse.
[2] and building stocks [3]. The generator creates new data, while the discrimi-
nator determines whether the samples are real or fake
Synthetic data is artificially generated data which (Figure 2). The ultimate goal is to create synthetic data
mimics the real data by using the underlying statistical that is indistinguishable from the real.
properties and at the same time masks the most sensi-
tive properties of this data. After the synthetisation
process, it’s impossible to assign the data a specific
person or household entity. This ensures that no con-
fidentiality or privacy issues are breached while the
quality of data remains very high since it keeps the
most valuable properties of the real data. This process
allows for a high scalability of the data, where different
data sources can be merged to generate an enriched
dataset to analyse data at a more aggregated level.

The synthetised data within the de MODERATE platform

will include data coming from EPCs across Europe, elec- Figure 2. GAN’s workflow (picture by SquareUp).
tricity load profiles from smart meters, heating profiles
and data coming from temperature sensors.
Turning raw data into meaningful
knowledge
Synthetic data is artificially generated using different sta-
tistical and ML techniques, like hidden Markov Chain In addition to improved data collection and har-
[4], autoregressive models [5] and other ML algorithms. monization, the MODERATE platform will offer
The advent of Generative Adversial Network (GAN) has 10 data-driven services that enable users to analyse
revolutionized this field thanks to its ability to generate the performance of buildings and gain meaningful
realistic and high-quality data and its flexibility to create insights from the raw (synthesized) data available on
different variants of GANs using the fundamental piece the platform.
of work [6]. GAN is a type of deep learning algorithm
As can be seen on Figure 3, the MODERATE
platform will offer three distinct categories of data-
Value

ta driven services for monitoring building performance:

Da
e
itiv
ns System management services: These services can
Se tic be used for monitoring and controlling the building
t he
n performance through data analysis, providing real-time
Sy
insights into energy consumption and potential ineffi-
ciencies through fault detection. The services included
in this category are:

• Fault detection & forecasting: This service ensures

a reliable monitoring and control system that can
be used by utility companies, ESCOs, and facility
Classical anonymization
managers to identify faults in real-time and enable
predictive maintenance of the buildings systems
they manage. Through a user-friendly web applica-
Data
tion users will be able to predict and understand
possible failures in their systems.
Figure 1. Data Synthetisation anonymises the most • Energy system optimization: This service uses machine
sensitive data while keeping most of the data’s value learning techniques to generate possible optimiza-
through machine-learning techniques, making it much tions in building systems based on the available data
more useful than classical anonymisation. available in the platform. This will facilitate the work

54 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

ARTICLES

of energy and facility managers, ensuring that the areas by looking at the roof surface and irradiance
potential of the building defined in the design phase in that area. The tool easily calculates the energy
is respected and identifying the right set-up that guar- savings and the payback time of a solar PV invest-
antees the best level of comfort at the lowest cost. ment in a certain area.
• Energy Conservation Measure (ECM): The ECM • Local energy communities assessment: This service
application assesses potential energy savings through is used in tandem with the solar cadastre and is
requalification measures like improved insulation more at municipality level. The tool can identify the
of building facade or upgraded HVAC systems. It feasibility to develop an energy community based
calculates and rank. The possible ECMs identifying on the availability of rooftop PV in a specific area.
the best efficiency intervention, leading to economic It compares the energy demand with the potential
savings and CO₂ reduction. The calculation of each of solar PV and can help identify the optimal areas
ECM is performed using a dynamic building model to setup an energy community.
created using the ISO 52016 standard. The required • Measurement & Verification for building assessment:
inputs can be provided manually or through a direct The M&V for Building Assessment service uses a
connection to a BIM model. The ECM is a measure standard procedure (IPMVP) to verify actual energy
of energy efficiency that compares the additional savings achieved through improvement actions. It
costs of energy efficiency measures to maintenance helps ESCOs to define accurate Energy Performance
and building stock valorisation costs. Contracts by identifying savings and providing
guidelines to choose the best option.
Building optimization and assessment: These services • Benchmarking tool: The benchmarking tool compares
use AI models to evaluate building performance and building performance for energy and comfort, facili-
identify areas for improvement in terms of solar roof tating comparison and energy accounting with similar
potential, cost savings, and overall building perfor- buildings to assess improvement opportunities and
mance. The services included in this category are: verify energy savings. It benefits real estate, municipali-
ties, policy makers, building managers, and planners.
• Solar cadastre: it is a tool that allows you to visualize The tool will be an open-source web app, using syn-
and assess the photovoltaic potential in different thetic data generated as a reference for specific analyses.

Monitoring and Control

MODERATE SYSTEM Data

MANAGEMENT Analysis

AI models

MODERATE BUILDING Energy

OPTIMIZATION AND evaluation
ASSESSMENT
Data Analysis

MODERATE Policy
DECISION MAKING evaluation

Figure 3. Overview of the MODERATE data-driven analytical services.

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ARTICLES

Decision-making services: This category is focused • Energy Performance Certificate Harmonization:

on analysing data to support policy evaluation and The EPC harmonization service aims to stand-
decision-making, helping building managers make ardize EPCs across regions and countries based
informed choices about resource allocation and energy on a European ontology. It will associate energy
management. consumption data to help define policies and pro-
motions for reducing thermal consumption and
• De-risking investments in building energy: National CO₂ emissions.
policies are driving investment in energy-efficient • Geo-clustering tool: The geo-clustering tool evaluates
building renovations for reduced consumption and building stock performance using cluster tech-
improved indoor comfort. This service will use syn- niques. It compares the performance of buildings in
thetic data to guide investors on what are the most the same or different areas to assess possible savings
financially attractive investments to improve the in refurbishment. Building designers can use it to
performance of their buildings, impacting policy by determine the best technology for a specific use and
enabling better decision-making for energy-efficient climate, while researchers can analyse the impact
building investments. of building features on energy consumption and
thermal comfort.

For more information, see the project website: https://moderate-project.eu/

Follow us on LinkedIn & Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/moderate-he/ & https://twitter.com/MODERATE_HE

References
[1] Bilgi Yilmaz and Ralf Korn, ‘Synthetic Demand Data Generation for Individual Electricity Consumers: Generative
Adversarial Networks (GANs)’, Energy and AI 9 (August 2022): 100161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyai.2022.100161.
[2] Neil H. W. Eklund, ‘Using Synthetic Data to Train an Accurate Real-World Fault Detection System’, in The Proceedings
of the Multiconference on ‘Computational Engineering in Systems Applications’ (Multiconference on “Computational
Engineering in Systems Applications, Beijing, China: IEEE, 2006), 483–88, https://doi.org/10.1109/CESA.2006.4281700.
[3] Zhe Wang and Tianzhen Hong, ‘Generating Realistic Building Electrical Load Profiles through the Generative
Adversarial Network (GAN)’, Energy and Buildings 224 (October 2020): 110299, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
enbuild.2020.110299.
Shashank Asre and Adnan Anwar, ‘Synthetic Energy Data Generation Using Time Variant Generative Adversarial
Network’, Electronics 11, no. 3 (24 January 2022): 355, https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11030355.
[4] Ziegler, Felix et al., ‘A Probabilistic Modelling Approach for Residential Load Profiles’, 27 February 2020, https://doi.
org/10.5281/ZENODO.3689339.
[5] Rafał Czapaj, Jacek Kamiński, and Maciej Sołtysik, ‘A Review of Auto-Regressive Methods Applications to Short-Term
Demand Forecasting in Power Systems’, Energies 15, no. 18 (14 September 2022): 6729, https://doi.org/10.3390/
en15186729.
[6] Ian Goodfellow et al., ‘Generative Adversarial Nets’, in Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, ed. Z.
Ghahramani et al., vol. 27 (Curran Associates, Inc., 2014), https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper/2014/file/5ca3e9b122f
61f8f06494c97b1afccf3-Paper.pdf.
Ankan Dash, Junyi Ye, and Guiling Wang, ‘A Review of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Its Applications
in a Wide Variety of Disciplines -- From Medical to Remote Sensing’ (arXiv, 1 October 2021), http://arxiv.org/
abs/2110.01442.

This article has been prepared under the MODERATE project which has been funded
by the European Union’s Horizon Europe innovation program under Grant Agreement
No. 101069834. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s)
only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither
the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

56 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

REHVA WORLD

ACREX 2023, that’s a wrap!

After three days of engaging discussions, presentations, and productive networking,
ACREX India 2023 has come to a close. The event was a great success, attendees had
the opportunity to explore the latest advancements in sustainable building practices and
connect with like-minded professionals from various sectors.

T
he President of REHVA, Catalin Lungu, along
with Marie Joannes, REHVA Staff, and Tomasz
Cholewa, co-chair of the decarbonisation Task
Force, attended ACREX India 2023 from March 14 to
March 16. The REHVA team was invited by ISHRAE
and sponsored by Eurovent Certita Certification to
partake in a range of inspiring events during the three-
day conference.

Catalin Lungu, President of REHVA, delivered a brief

address during the Curtain Raiser Function on March
13, invoking the G20 slogan “One Earth, One Family,
One Future”. Through this reference, he underscored
the importance of collective action to achieve the
conference’s theme, “Engineering toward Net Zero”.
Lungu emphasized that collaboration and cooperation
are essential to reach this goal. He also highlighted the
crucial role of sustained partnerships and friendship
between ISHRAE and REHVA in creating a sustain-
able future.

ACREX India 2023 proved to be a resounding success,

drawing over 40,000 visitors who had the opportunity
to explore the offerings of more than 450 exhibitors.
REHVA was an active participant throughout the three-
day exhibition, welcoming visitors to its booth and
engaging with attendees from the HVAC&R industry.

On March 14, a packed and engaged audience wit-

nessed a powerful seminar on “Engineering toward
net zero,” presented jointly by ISHRAE and REHVA.
The event featured a diverse panel of industry-leading
experts who delivered insightful and thought-pro-
voking presentations.

Catalin Lungu delivered a presentation titled

“LEVEL(s) and SRI-EU tools for decarbonization of
the built environment.” Lungu showcased Europe’s
progress in the field and introduced key technical
tools, including LEVEL(s), SRI, and SLE, which are
instrumental in achieving decarbonization goals.

Eric Foucherot, from Eurovent Certita Certification,

delivered an insightful presentation on “Energy
Efficient Ventilation: investors should take control”.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 57

REHVA WORLD

Eric Foucherot discussed a range of topics, including

the life cycle costs associated with Air Handling Units.
Foucherot’s presentation sparked a conversation on
the need for meaningful incentivization policies to
encourage the adoption of energy-efficient systems.

Tomasz Cholewa, co-chair of the decarbonisation Task

Force at REHVA, presented “HVAC professionals as
key players in energy retrofit and decarbonisation of
existing buildings.” Cholewa highlighted the signifi-
cant role played by HVAC professionals in reducing
energy consumption in buildings. He presented the
audience with compelling statistics and suggested
ways to reduce energy consumption through renova-
tions, user education, Energy Renovation of Building
“Enveloppe,” and the use of renewable energy sources.
Cholewa also used the opportunity to showcase
REHVA’s European Guidebook 32, which focuses on
energy-efficient renovation of existing buildings.

As a token of gratitude for their valuable contribu-

tions, the speakers at the “Engineering toward net zero”
seminar were awarded Certificates of Appreciation.
The certificates recognized their exceptional efforts
in delivering informative and engaging presentations,
which helped to enrich the discourse around sustain-
able building practices.

Eurovent Certita Certification’s Head of International

Affairs & Partnerships, Eric Foucherot said, “It was a
pleasure to be involved in the Engineering towards
net zero seminar sessions co-organised by ISHRAE
and REHVA. Once again, our partnership with
REHVA has allowed us to engage with industry on
some of the key issues affecting decarbonisation and
net zero. It was a great opportunity to discuss the many
responsibilities of the HVACR sector, not just in India,
but beyond.”

REHVA extends its sincere gratitude to ISHRAE

for the invitation and organization of ACREX India
2023. The event was a fantastic opportunity for us to
connect with industry leaders and engage in stimu-
lating conversations on the path toward a sustainable
built environment. We are already eagerly anticipating
ACREX 2024 and the possibilities it holds.

REHVA would also like to thank Eurovent Certita

Certification for sponsoring our participation in
ACREX2023. The support provided by Eurovent
Certita Certification was instrumental in enabling
our team to attend and contribute to the event, and
we greatly appreciate their continued commitment to
our shared goals.

58 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

REHVA WORLD

ISHRAE and REHVA: continuously

joining forces to advance HVAC

I
SHRAE (Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating particularly in areas such as energy efficiency, indoor
and Air Conditioning Engineers), and REHVA, air quality, and sustainable building design. Both
recently held a joint meeting in Mumbai, India to organizations acknowledged the value of sharing
discuss their shared goals and explore opportunities knowledge and best practices and expressed a willing-
for collaboration. ness to explore ways to facilitate this exchange.

The meeting took place during ACREX INDIA 2023, Overall, the meeting was a positive and productive
with representatives from both organizations expressing one, with both organizations expressing a strong desire
enthusiasm for working together to advance the field of to continue the dialogue and explore opportunities for
HVAC&R and improve the quality of life for people cooperation in the future. As the world continues to
around the world. grapple with pressing issues such as climate change and
public health, the partnership between ISHRAE and
One of the topics discussed was the need for greater REHVA holds great promise for advancing the field of
cooperation on research and development initiatives, HVAC&R and making a positive impact on society.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 59

EU POLICY

Update on the F-Gas Regulation negotiations:

The shift to (very) low-GWP refrigerants
In March 2022 the European Commission published
its proposal for a Revision of the F-Gas Regulation
(2022/0099 COD) to replace the current regulation
from 2014. The key objective of the revision is to have JASPER VERMAUT
a more ambitious phase-down of HFCs, meaning a EU Policy & Project Officer
much stronger shift to (very) low-GWP refrigerants
in the coming years which will significantly impact
the RACHP sector. In this article we’ll provide a short
recap of the Commission’s proposal on the F-Gas
revision, go more in-depth into certain amendments by the European Parliament and Council
that impact the RACHP sector and compare them with each other. At the end we talk about
the next steps and provide a short update on the proposal for the restriction of PFAS.

Commission’s Proposal
From 2027 onwards the prohibitions would become
The Commission released a revision of the 2014 F-Gas stricter for all split systems, those with a capacity of
Regulation to align with the Green Deal ambitions 12 kW or lower can maximum use F-Gases with a
of carbon neutrality and streamline with the Kigali GWP lower than 150. Those with a higher capacity
Amendment of the Montreal Protocol by extending have to stay under 750 GWP.
the HFC phase-down after 2030. Two provisions are
important for the RACHP to keep in mind: Product This means that the popular R32, which has a 100-year
prohibitions for air-conditioners and heat pumps that GWP of 675 and gained popularity as a refrigerant
make use of refrigerants with a higher GWP, and a in recent years due to its comparatively lower GWP
much steeper HFC phase-down. to other HFCs and very high efficiency, can only be
used in split systems that have a capacity higher than
COM: Product Prohibitions (Annex IV points 12 kW from 2027 onwards.
17 & 18)
Table 1 provides an overview of the AC-HP products COM: Steeper HFC Phase-Down Timeline
that will be banned from the EU market based on (Annex VII)
their use of F-Gases. The Commission proposed to As can be seen in Figure 1 (see further), the
ban plug-in & other self-contained AC-HP systems Commission has proposed a much more ambitious
that use F-Gases with a GWP of 150 or more from HFC phase-down in comparison to what’s currently
2025 onwards, together with single-split systems that in place under the 2014 Regulation. The end objec-
contain less than 3 kg of F-Gases with a GWP of 750 tive is to have a reduction of 98% HFCs by 2048 in
or more. comparison to 2015 levels.

Table 1. Prohibitions (/bans) on AC-HP products within the Commission’s Proposal. Source: Table made based on
information in F-Gas Regulation Revision – Commission Proposal COM(2022) 150 final: Annex IV (points 17 & 18).
Type of AC-HP Capacity Max. allowed Enforcement Exemption
system F-Gas GWP date
Plug-in & other
All < 150 1 January 2025 None
self-contained
Single-split < 3kg F-Gases < 750 1 January 2025 None
Split ≤ 12 kW < 150 1 January 2027 Can be exempted through safety standards
Split > 12 kW < 750 1 January 2027 Can be exempted through safety standards

60 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

EU POLICY

EP: Coherency with REACH (art. 35 par. 1c)

The new timeline will go into effect from 2024 onwards,
with the largest decrease to occur from 2027–2029. A new paragraph has been added, requiring the
While the 2014 Regulation allowed for a maximum Commission to reassess and update the F-Gas
quantity of HFCs equivalent to 42 MtCO2e in this Regulation as necessary once the revision of the
time period, the revised timeline decreases this amount REACH Regulation is completed. This is to ensure that
to less than half of that, specifically to 18 MtCO2e. the F-Gas Regulation is coherent with any potential
new restrictions on the use of PFAS within REACH.
Keeping in mind this steep decrease and the abovemen-
tioned prohibitions, it’s clear that the Commission has EP: Flexibility for heat pumps under
the aim to steer the RACHP market to very low-GWP RePowerEu (Art. 17 par. 6a)
refrigerants from 2027 onwards, with 2024 – 2026 as a The Parliament introduced an amendment which
transition period. Combined with the PFAS restriction should allow for more flexibility for the heat pump
that is being discussed (see further), there is a push sector to not endanger the needed acceleration for their
towards a shift to natural refrigerants. deployment under RePowerEU. The Commission will
assess the impact of the HFC quota phase-down on the
heat pump market on an annual basis, until 2029. If the
European Parliament Amendments
assessment concludes that the phase-down is creating
Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout of the Greens led the debates disruptions on the deployment, the Commission will
as rapporteur for the ENVI Committee, having previously be allowed to place a limited amount of additional
served in the same role for the 2014 Regulation negotia- HFC quotas on the market for heat pumps.
tions. He continues to champion for a more ambitious
shift away from F-Gases and towards natural refrigerants, With this amendment the Parliament responds to
which is reflected in the Parliament’s final report (P9_ concerns from the industry that a too ambitious
TA(2023)0092) that was approved with a large majority in phase-down would hamper the rapid deployment of
the Plenary session on 30 March, mainly due to the support heat pumps and create an additional barrier to reach
of the Greens, S&D and Renew with a more divided EPP. the RePowerEU targets to roll out 10 million hydronic
The margins were more narrow during the vote for some heat pumps by 2027 and double the deployment rate
separate Plenary amendments to make the HFC phase- by 2030.
down and prohibitions more flexible (e.g. amendments
175 – 179 and amendment 185), where especially Renew EP: Stronger product prohibitions (Annex IV
and EPP were strongly divided within their own groups. points 17 & 18)
Table 2 shows the amendments from the Parliament on
The approved amendments push for a more ambitious the product bans in comparison to the Commission’s
phase-out of HFCs and for much stronger bans on proposal in bold and underlined (again only the
products using F-Gases, banning the use of all F-Gases relevant bans for AC-HP have been included in
in different types of AC-HP systems. Three sets of amend- this table). This is likely the most contentious set of
ments which are crucial for the RACHP sector are the amendments by the Parliament, where they’ve intro-
possibility to allow additional HFC quotas for heat pumps duced strict bans on all F-Gases in different types of
to not endanger the RePowerEU objectives, additional AC-HP systems from 2026 and 2028 onwards as you
prohibitions and a new timeline to phase-out HFCs. can see in Table 2.

Table 2. Prohibitions (/bans) on AC-HP products within the Commission’s Proposal. Source: Table made based on
information in F-Gas Regulation Revision – European Parliament Report P9_TA(2023)0092 : Annex IV (points 17 & 18).
Amendments to the Commission proposal are bold and underlined while the Commission’s original text is striked through.
Type of AC-HP system Capacity Max. allowed F-Gas GWP Enforcement date Exemption
Plug-in, monobloc & other
All < 150 All F-Gases banned 1 January 2025 2026 None
self-contained
Single-split, including fixed < 3kg
< 750 All F-Gases banned 1 January 2025 2028 None
double duct systems F-Gases

Split ≤ 12 kW < 150 All F-Gases banned 1 January 2027 2028 Can be exempted through safety standards

> 12 kW
Split < 750 1 January 2027 2028 Can be exempted through safety standards
≤ 200 kW
Split > 200 kW All F-Gases banned 1 January 2028 None

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 61

EU POLICY

EP: Revised HFC phase-out (Annex VII)

in the Commission’s proposal was too steep.
Figure 1 displays two significant changes that the During the Plenary session in Parliament, there
Parliament intends to introduce to the HFC phase- was a widely discussed amendment to increase the
down timeline, in comparison to the Commission’s allowed HFC level to 18% in this time period.
proposal: However, this amendment was voted down by a
fairly small margin.
1. While the Commission plans to decrease the
HFCs in the market by 98% by 2050, relative to
Council Negotiation Mandate
2015 levels, the Parliament suggests a complete
phase-out of HFCs by 2050. The reasoning On 5 April, 5 days after the Parliament, the Council
behind this proposal is not only environmental agreed its mandate to enter into negotiations (file
but also based on the belief that a complete phase- 8162/23) with the other institutions with their own
out sends a stronger market signal to move away amendments.
from F-Gases instead of keeping a small part.
However, some market actors fear that a complete Important to note that their amendments include
phase-out without exceptions may not be feasible a distinction between air-to-air and air-to-water
in some products (this doesn’t necessarily apply heat pumps in the product prohibitions, which
to AC-HP products however). some industry actors have been asking for as the use
2. In the period 2027–2029 the Parliament increased of natural refrigerants is more complicated with the
the quota level to 12%, rather than 10% in the former when looking at heat pumps that are on the
Commission’s proposal, compared to 2015 levels. market today. Additionally, the Council propose
One of the arguments supporting this proposal a limited exemption for heat pumps to the HFC
is that the cut-off point between 2026 and 2027 phase-down (similar to the Parliament’s amendment)

HFC Phase-Down: Comp

HFC Phase-Down: Comparison of Timelines
(expressed in tonnes
200M

180M 100%
93%
160M

140M

120M 63%
100M
45% 31% 24%
80M 21%
24% 10%
5.3%
60M 24% 12%
5.3%
25% 12.5%
40M
5.3%

20M

M
2015 2016 - 2017 2018 - 2020 2021 - 2023 2024 - 2026 2027 - 2029 2030 - 2032

2014 Regulation Timeline Commission Revision Proposal

Figure 1. Comparison of timelines of the HFC phase-down(/out) between

62 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

EU POLICY

Council: More distinctions in prohibitions for

and a more lenient HFC phase-down timeline in
heat pumps (Annex IV points 16 & 18)
comparison to the Commission and Parliament.
As mentioned, in the product bans the Council has
Council: Flexibility for heat pumps under set a different timeline for air-to-air and air-to-water
RePowerEU (Art. 17 par. 6b) systems. This keeps in in mind that air-to-air systems
As mentioned, this proposed amendment by the with a lower GWP currently have a much lower market
Council is similar to what the Parliament has penetration, especially HFOs are threatened to be
proposed as well to allow for a limited flexibility on strongly restricted under REACH. Same as above, the
the use of HFCs in heat pumps to not cause disrup- differences with the Commission’s proposal are in bold
tions with the RePowerEU objectives. The difference and underlined in Table 3.
with the Parliament amendment, is that the Council
asks for an assessment by the Commission after a Council: Revised HFC phase-down (Art. VII)
substantiated request by a Member State and not on The revised timeline by the Council can be seen
an annual basis. in Figure 1. It is worth noting that, in contrast to
both the Commission and Parliament, the Council
They’ve also specified concrete additional quota that proposes slightly more leniency for 2024–2026. For
could be placed on the market. For the period of 2024 2027–2029, it also requests more leniency compared
– 2026 this would be 4,410,247 (a 2.5% increase on to the Commission proposal, which is similar to
the Council timeline for that same period compared the Parliament’s. From 2030 onwards, the Council
to 2015 levels) and for the 2027 – 2029 it’s 1,425,536 maintains the same phase-down schedule as the
(0.8% increase). Commission.

parison of Timelines
(expressed in tonnes CO2 equivalent)
s CO2 equivalent)

21% 21% 21% 21% 21% 21% 21%

4.9% 3.9% 3.5% 3.2% 2.8% 2.4% 2.4%
4.9% 3.9% 2.4% 1.9% 0.9% 0.5% 0%
4.9% 3.9% 3.5% 3.2% 2.8% 2.4% 2.4%

2033 - 2035 2036 -2038 2039 - 2041 2042 - 2044 2045 - 2047 2048 - 2049 2050

European Parliament Amendment Council Amendment

2014 Regulation with different proposals for a Revision by the EU institutions.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 63

EU POLICY

Table 3. Prohibitions (/bans) on AC-HP products within the Commission’s Proposal. Source: Table made based on
information in F-Gas Regulation Revision – Council file 8162/23 : Annex IV (points 16 & 18). Amendments to the
Commission proposal are bold and underlined.

Type of AC-HP Capacity Max. allowed Enforcement date Exemption

system F-Gas GWP
Plug-in & other Can be exempted through safety
self-contained (incl. ≤ 50 kW < 150 1 January 20252027 requirements (not standards) with a limit to
monobloc) 750 GWP
Can be exempted through safety
Other self-
All < 150 1 January 2030 requirements (not standards) with a limit to
contained AC & HP
750 GWP
Single-split < 3kg F-Gases < 750 1 January 2025 None
Can be exempted through safety standards
Split air-to-air ≤ 12 kW < 150 1 January 20272029
requirements
Can be exempted through safety
Split air-to-water ≤ 12 kW < 150 1 January 2027
requirements (not standards)
Can be exempted through safety standards
Split > 12 kW < 750 1 January 20272029
requirements
Can be exempted through safety
Split > 12 kW < 150 1 January 2033
requirements (not standards)

Next steps
Important to note here is – of course – the PFAS restric-
The Council and Parliament will now enter into ‘tria- tion which has been proposed by the governments of
logue’ negotiations with each to find an agreement on Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and
the final text. It is expected that the institutions will Sweden to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA).
find an agreement in Q3 of 2023. The proposal aims to strongly restrict PFAS under the
REACH Regulation, which would basically strongly
When considering the provisions discussed in this the use of certain HFCs and HFOs. Most notably
article, we can expect that the institutions can find a HFC-134a and HFO-1234yf would be restricted under
relatively quick agreement on the HFC phase-down this proposal. The consultation round for the PFAS
between 2024 and 2029. A larger obstacle will be the restriction is currently open and after the opinions by
discussion between the 98% phase-down by 2050 or ECHA committees, the proposal will be handed over
the complete phase-out of HFCs by that date as the to the European Commission in Q3 2023 who will
Parliament amended. The largest point for the dis- then consider adding it to the REACH Regulation.
cussion will be the product bans however, where the To find out more about the PFAS restriction and the
Council asks for more flexibility, the Parliament aims consultation round, have a look at the webinar organ-
to introduce strict bans on F-Gases in several types of ized by ECHA on 5 April*.
AC-HP systems from 2026 and 2028 onwards.

Bibliography
The 2014 F-Gas Regulation No 517/2014: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32014R0517

European Commission proposal for a Revision of the F-Gas Regulation – COM/2022/150 final: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/
legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022PC0150

European Parliament amendments to the Commission proposal – P9_TA(2023)0092: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/

doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0092_EN.pdf

Council amendments to the Commission proposal - 8162/23: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/63509/st08162-

en23.pdf?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fluorinated+gases+and+ozone+depletin
g+substances%3a+member+states+ready+to+negotiate+with+Parliament

* https://echa.europa.eu/-/restriction-of-per-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfass-under-reach

64 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

IAQ Corner

The Seven Essentials of Healthy Indoor Air

3. Well designed air dilution and airflow pattern

An important factor is the way in which the room several times or become trapped in
air introduced into a room flows through certain zones of the room. Modern airflow
that room and then exits it again. Ideally, simulations enable typical flow patterns in
fresh air flows undiluted from the bottom a room to be studied in detail. The correct
up past a person and is then extracted design, placement and orientation of air
directly from the room. It must be ensured outlets can help prevent major healthy air
that indoor air does not “swirl” around the errors.

Learn more about Belimo’s 7 essentials of healthy indoor air: Scan the QR code
https://www.belimo.com/ch/en_GB/indoor-air-quality/7-essentials-iaq

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 65

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Please send information of your event to Ms Marie Joannes [email protected] EVENTS

Exhibitions, Conferences and Seminars

May 2023
11–12 May 2023 REHVA Annual Meeting (rehva.eu) Brussels, Belgium

11-13 May 2023 ISH China & CIHE (ishc-cihe.hk.messefrankfurt.com) Bejing, China

18–19 May 2023 Workshop, Tokyo, “Towards high quality, low-carbon ventilation in Tokyo, Japan
airtight buildings” (aivc.org)

20–23 May 2023 IAQVEC 2023 (iaqvec2023.org) Tokyo, Japan

June 2023
8–9 June 2023 RCEPB 15, International Conference – Energy Performance of Bucharest Romania
Buildings (rcepb.ro)

11–14 June 2023 HB2023 Europe Conference, “Beyond disciplinary boundaries Aachen, Germany
– Transdisciplinary perspectives on multisensory stimulation for
innovative and creative solutions in a Post-Covid era” (ukaachen.de)

20-22 June 2023 European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) 2023 (sustainable- Brussels, Belgium
energy-week.ec.europa.eu)

24–28 June 2023 2023 ASHRAE Annual Conference (ashrae.org) Tampa, FL, USA

July 2023
25-27 July 2023 HVACR Vietnam (hvacrvietnam.com) Hanoi, Vietnam

August 2023
14–16 August 2023 SuDBE 2023 (sudbeconference.com) Espoo, Finland

September 2023
28–30 September 2023 EFS 2023 (efs2023.uc.pt) Prague, Czech Republic

October 2023
4–5 October 2023 43rd AIVC – 11th TightVent & 9th venticool Conference: Ventilation, Aalborg University,
IEQ and health in sustainable buildings (aivc2023conference.org) Copenhagen, Denmark

25–27 October 2023 Decarbonization Conference for the Built Environment (ashrae.org) Washington D.C., USA

Due to the COVID-19 circumstances, the dates of events might change. Please follow the event’s official website.

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 67

ISH China & CIHE
EVENTS UPCOMING Beijing, 11 – 13 May 2023
Photos: Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd

Industry players to seize ample

opportunities at ISH China & CIHE 2023
China’s HVAC market is well placed to thrive with plentiful business opportunities. Manufacturers
have been actively developing energy-efficient HVAC solutions, in response to the Chinese
government’s initiatives on sustainable development. With the presence of leading global and
domestic brands featuring their innovative solutions and products, the line-up of international
pavilions and specialised areas will act as the highlight of ISH China & CIHE 2023.

O
rganised by Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) As China’s latest national policies underline the green
Co Ltd and CIEC GL events (Beijing) economy, the accelerating growth of the HVAC market
International Exhibition Co Ltd, ISH China sees new business opportunities for industry players,
& CIHE – China’s leading international trade fair for who are prepared to showcase their latest products and
heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, sanitation & innovations to professional buyers. A number of leading
home comfort systems is set to open from 11–13 May companies and brands worldwide have confirmed their
2023 at the China International Exhibition Center participation at the 2023 edition, which include:
(Shunyi Hall) in Beijing. Focusing on three major
themes: Energy, Water and Life, which are in line AMA&HIEN, Amitime, Amnesty, ARODD, BDR,
with China’s green initiatives and energy infrastructure Beigao, CALEFFI, DA, Danfoss, Devotion, Electrolux,
optimisation targets, more than 1,300 exhibitors will Fangkuai, GMICÖU, GONGDA KEYA, GREE,
showcase the latest HVAC, plumbing, smart heating Grundfos, Gude, Haier, Hailin, Hnbwrn, Hongyue,
and home comfort technologies and products across Huadehuamei, Huamei, Inovisen, JESDY, Kaaniche,
106,800 sqm of exhibition space. Kenuo, Kingfore, Kiturami, Leo, Lonpend, Mayair,

68 The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023

EVENTS UPCOMING

MICOE, Midea, Naturaquell, Nedfon, New Energy, Heatmiser, KMC, Nuova Imas, Polidoro, Rima,
Nobana, NORITZ, OUTES, PHILIPS, PHNIX, Sermeta, Vernet, Vexve and Zero. The area will also
POWERWORLD, Resideo, Rinnai, RUIGE, RUNA, introduce the new Minibox Service Area, which will
Shengxu , Shimge, Shinco, Shiteng, SHUANGLIANG, allow international exhibitors who cannot attend the
SIEMENS, Snowman, Solerad, ST.LAWRENCE, fair in-person to showcase their products and explore
Suming, Tasan, Tongfang Smart Energy Saving, business opportunities online.
Tongli, Towngas Smart Energy, UNBEATABLE,
Vanward, Walker, WDK, Wellhausen, Westone, Being one of the key components for green heating and
WILO, Xinhuaxing, Xinxing, YORO, YUQ and more. cooling, water pumps are again one of the highlighted
products at ISH China & CIHE. The Water Pump Area
will feature a number of prominent brands within the
Strong line-up of pavilions and specialised
plumbing industry, including DAB, DAFU, Dooch,
display areas to showcase the latest
Goodpump, Grundfos, HOMA, Hydroo, Kaiquan, Leo,
innovations and technologies
Lingxiao, Minamoto, Nanyuan, Pentax, RHEKEN,
This year, the German Pavilion, Canada Pavilion, SFA, TQ GROUP, Westone, WILO and more.
Overseas Area, Zhejiang Pavilion, Water Pump Area
and Clean Energy District Heating Area will be the With the latest innovations and clean-energy tech-
major highlights of ISH China & CIHE. Supported nology showcases adhering to carbon emission
by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and regulations, the Clean Energy District Heating Area
Climate Action (BMWK), the German Pavilion will organised by the China District Heating Association
continue to be the key feature of the fair. The new will be housed in hall W3 with renowned companies,
Canada Pavilion will present the latest Canadian including Desource, Diehl, GMSDIP, Gongda Keya,
advanced manufacturing technologies and applications GREEN ENERGY ALLIANC, HDCHIP, Heighten,
to meet the specific demands of the Chinese winter. Huameng, Huizhong, HYTC, JHRJ, Jumo, Kingfore,
Furthermore, following its success in the 2021 edition Lcarbo, Nanjing Jiangu, Nuanliu, Ploumeter, POER,
with over 100 domestic exhibitors spanning 10,000 Precise, Revoheat, RUNA, Shuanghe, SHUOREN
sqm of exhibition space, the Zhejiang Pavilion will TIMES, THT, TigerIOT, TOKYO, TSCC, Wukexing,
once again feature this year with product showcases Xingbang, Xinxing Pipes, Younai and others.
including HVAC, sanitation and plumbing products.
ISH Shanghai & CIHE is another ISH event in China.
Located in halls E1 and W2, the Overseas Area has For more information about ISH China & CIHE and
already gathered a number of international brands, ISH Shanghai & CIHE, please visit www.ishc-cihe.
including AYVAZ, Broen, CALEFFI, EMS, Fondital, hk.messefrankfurt.com or email [email protected].

The REHVA European HVAC Journal — April 2023 69

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