A good indoor climate requires sufficient air exchange. Ventilation removes moisture from the air in the room and prevents the formation of mold. Ventilation provides for oxygen supply, CO2 is reduced and thus concentration and performance increase. In your own home, ventilation can be done manually; in schools, hospitals, office and industrial buildings, automated ventilation systems are usually needed.
Effective ventilation concepts take into account the national and European standards for ventilation in both residential (DIN 1946-6) and non-residential buildings (EN 16798-3). Whether new construction or comprehensive modernization: architects and planners are by now obliged to create a ventilation concept for almost every project.
For publicly and commercially used buildings a concept with user-independent fresh air supply by controlled natural ventilation is recommended. The automated, electromotive opening and closing of building openings such as windows, flaps and domelights can simultaneously be integrated into a smoke and heat ventilation concept for natural smoke extraction.
In combination with a control and regulation system and sensors, the controlled natural ventilation achieves a fast "natural" air exchange with only minimal energy consumption. The reason: controlled natural ventilation is based on the physically induced thermal lift (chimney effect) in the building, which is caused by the difference between the inside and outside temperature, air or wind pressure or humidity.
The practical suitability of Controlled Natural Ventilation is proven by the study "KonLuft - Energieeffizienz von Gebäuden durch kontrollierte natürliche Lüftung" (ConAir - Energy Efficiency of Buildings through Controlled Natural Ventilation) by the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences. The result of the study shows that controlled natural ventilation using automated windows can ensure the demand-oriented, user-independent building ventilation required by law.
In addition, the life cycle analysis has shown that Controlled Natural Ventilation systems save around 12 percent in investment costs compared to fan ventilation systems with heat recovery and cause around 50 percent less operating and maintenance costs over a period of 20 years. Controlled Natural Ventilation can also score with regard to climate and environmental friendliness: With minimal energy consumption, this type of ventilation conserves natural resources and thus helps to reduce CO2 emissions.
The VFE e.V. (Association for Window Automation and Smoke Extraction) has developed the planning aid, a web-based, free planning software that determines the necessary air exchange by means of controlled natural ventilation via windows, taking into account the valid standards. The planning aid calculates for residential and non-residential buildings whether and which ventilation measures are necessary. Further information and free access to the planning aid is available at: www.vfe.info.
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All pictures used on this page: ©Verband Fensterautomation und Entrauchung e. V
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