Irish heating and ventilation supplier VentHeat has launched two new humidification systems to the Irish market, both of which are designed to help stop the spread of bacteria and viruses within buildings.

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.

Alongside its portfolio of passive house certified skylights and roof glazing (phA advanced components) Lamilux has extended its product range to include Smoke Vent AOVs (automatic opening vents).

Today is the last day of ISH, the bi-annual exhibition for the combined topic of water and energy, which is on at the exhibition grounds in Frankfurt. Titled as ISH, it is the world’s leading trade fair for a range of associated topics, materials and services.

NIBE’s F730 exhaust air heat pumps have been selected to provide heating, ventilation and hot water for the Bolands Quay apartment development at Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, which is currently under construction.

A must-attend free event on ventilation in low energy buildings will run alongside this year’s Energy Show – with a chance to gain rare insights from a world class panel of expert speakers on a subject that is increasingly taking centre stage as new build and retrofit ambitions increase.

A research project examining the effectiveness of ventilation systems in low energy homes is one of 45 new sustainable energy projects to receive government funding in companies and institutions across Ireland.

Over a third of new homes may be sick buildings which fail to comply with minimum ventilation requirements under Part F of the building regulations, new analysis by Passive House Plus has indicated.

Michael McCarthy, a certified trainer with the Passive House Academy and an international authority on the passive house standard as lead passive house certifier on the MosArt team, has joined Versatile as the new ventilation specialist within its heating, cooling & ventilation division.

The net effect of poor insulation levels, underheating and under-ventilation in buildings poses a major public health threat. Peter Rickaby describes one pioneering London project that’s taking a practical, methodical – and scalable – approach to solving the problem.

Dampness reduction via better ventilation seen to be key

The Dutch company Fresh-r has won the passive house components award at the 22nd annual Passive House Exhibition in Munich, for its decentralised residential ventilation system. Fresh-r worked together with the Scottish firm Collective Architecture on its submission for the award, which was presented at this year’s international Passive House Conference.

Swegon has launched its new generation WISE demand controlled ventilation system, which “represents over 15 years’ experience and the latest pioneering technology in demand controlled ventilation”.

Despite increasing standards of insulation and airtightness, housing developers face few requirements to provide better ventilation and indoor air quality for new home buyers — beyond knocking extra holes in walls. But as reports of condensation and mould affecting new housing developments continue to surface in both the UK and Ireland, and research indicates many new homes may have poor indoor air quality, are developers finally waking up to the need for properly engineered ventilation systems?

A major new Dublin development by semi-state electricity company ESB is set to become one of the first major commercial construction projects in Dún Laoghaire– Rathdown to meet the area’s “passive house or equivalent” requirement for all new buildings.

Leading low energy ventilation supplier Sustainable Homes Scotland has advised anyone carrying out a deep retrofit — or building a small low energy dwelling — to consider the benefits of a new generation of decentralised mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems.

Questions have been raised about ventilation standards under the government’s new Warmth & Wellbeing scheme, which provides free energy efficiency upgrades to people over the age of 55 living in Dublin 12 and 24, who experience energy poverty and are also suffering from respiratory conditions.

Ventilation system manufacturer Aereco has announced the launch of its new Aereco Quality Standard.

Saffron Acres is a social housing development in Leicester that is set to be the largest affordable passive house scheme in the country.

Low energy building and airtightness specialists Partel have warned of the importance of ensuring any flat roof construction is properly designed to prevent interstitial condensation and the accumulation of moisture. 

In this blog post, David McHugh of Irish heat recovery ventilation manufacturer ProAir recalls the story of the company, from its foundation in his spare bedroom right up to its recent passive house certification 

Leading Irish heating supplier Origen Energy has launched the Genvex Combi 185 combined heat recovery ventilation and domestic hot water heat pump to the Irish market.

When Mike Jacob of Trunk Low Energy Building started planning to build this unique Essex home, it seemed likely to run way over budget, and still fail to meet the passive house standard. But rethinking key details and making tough compromises got the house within touching distance of passive, while slashing costs.

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?

.A range of newly certified passive house components were presented in January at the Deubaukom trade fair in Essen, Germany, including windows designed for use in the arctic and northern Scandanvia.  

The Passive House Institute has published a new study that looks at designing passive buildings for tropical climates. The study concludes that the key design criteria for such buildings include,"a very airtight building envelope, 10 to 15 cm of insulation, solar control glazing, fixed external shades for the windows and ventilation with both heat and energy recovery".

High levels of external insulation, abundant natural light and a minimalist approach to ventilation are ensuring that Malahide Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is as green as its courts