Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems are an efficient way of providing the necessary ventilation with very few heat losses for airtight dwellings. However, MVHR systems can also be used for space heating or back up heating.

When it comes to MVHR, size does matter, according to leading system designer and supplier CVC Direct.

Leading ventilation supplier Solarcrest has advised anyone specifying a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system to ensure it is properly designed to deal with local air pollution issues.

VentHeat, a new Irish company specialising in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for passive house and low energy buildings, has launched the Pichler PKOM4 compact heat pump system to the Irish market. The system combines heating, cooling, ventilation and domestic hot water in one passive house certified unit with a footprint of less than 0.75 m2.

Beam Vacuum & Ventilation has announced that they have successfully achieved certification against the requirements of ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), and ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety), while also meeting the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) for contractors’ criteria.

Heat pumps were likely the dominant heating system in new Irish homes in 2017, and mechanical ventilation was on course to overtake natural ventilation in new homes in 2018, an analysis by Passive House Plus has revealed.

Industry-leading mechanical ventilation company BEAM Vacuum & Ventilation has introduced a new user-friendly, high specification digital control panel for their popular Axco C130 Counterflow MVHR system. The aura-t wall mounted panel offers an advanced yet simple-to-use touchscreen controller for programming, commissioning and occupancy control.

Leading mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) manufacturer Brink Climate Systems has launched a new high efficiency MVHR unit, the Flair 325. According to the Dutch company, the new range comes with some exciting new technologies to boost efficiency, ensure correct ventilation rates and enable easy operation.

Nilan Ireland has announced that all Nilan heat pumps have achieved best-in-class performance under the EU’s new Ecodesign Directive, which came into force last September.

Flynn Heat Recovery Systems has just completed the installation of 93 Zehnder passive-certified MVHR units in a housing scheme under development by SDR Group at Aikens village, Stepaside, Co Dublin.

In April 2010, Geoff and Kate Tunstall moved into their pioneering house at Denby Dale. It was one of the UK’s first passive house projects, and the first to be built with a traditional British cavity wall system. Five years later, how are the Tunstalls finding life in a passive house?

As previously revealed in Passive House Plus, the evidence appears to indicate that natural ventilation systems don’t adequately ventilate our homes. But does mechanical ventilation perform any better?

This new home in Cumbria not only meets the passive house standard, it embraces natural and recycled materials and produces its own electricity — and achieved it all on a ‘shoestring’ budget.

From a distance Steel Farm looks like a traditional Northumberland farmhouse, with its sandstone exterior and cluster of outbuildings. But inside, it is something very different.

Motivated by the experience of building and living in a passive house, one of Ireland’s leading political figures has become a public advocate for the standard. Passive House Plus visited the house to find out why.

When Sjölander da Cruz Architects sought to turn an old abestos-clad shed into the firm’s new studio, it offered the perfect opportunity to put an enthusiasm for passive house design into practice.

The eco-village at Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary is no stranger to low energy buildings, and with this passive house, architect Paul McNally of The Passivhaus Architecture Company set out to prove that energy efficiency and good architecture go hand-in-hand.

Anyone who thinks the passive house standard isn’t relevant to non-domestic buildings is missing a trick. One certified passive office in Leicester reveals the significant benefits companies can yield in terms of saving energy, increasing productivity and improving the bottom line.

It’s sometimes said to be hard – perhaps too hard – to get a small house to meet the passive house standard. But a small house will have small heating bills, so why is it hard for a small house to be a passive house? Leading passive house consultants Alan Clarke and Nick Grant delve into the passive house software to find out what’s going on.

Architectural technician Phillip Newbold overcame strict planning rules and a tight budget to build his sensitively designed, super low energy home in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Such is the importance of ventilation, it’s only right and proper that the efficacy of innovative mechanical solutions such as heat recovery ventilation and demand controlled mechanical extract ventilation is established
based on robust, comprehensive evidence. But how does natural ventilation fare when subjected to the same degree of scrutiny, and can it work in low energy buildings?

When residents of Hollywood solemnly and publicly state the need to combat climate change, it is easy to reject as self-righteous, opportunistic bleating. When it’s a resident of Hollywood, County Wicklow, and the environmental statement is in the form of a poroton-block house infused with sustainable features, it provokes an altogether different response, as Lenny Antonelli reveals.