Analyse of Mechanical Ventilation System with Heat Recovery in Renovated Apartment Building

Abstract

The building sector is the largest user of energy and CO2 emitter in the European Union (EU). In the context of built environment, studies have proven that buildings are responsible for about 40% of national energy demand in the EU. Building stock is very old and in Latvia it is mainly built in the early 1970s or even 1960s. The stock of multifamily residential buildings has significant energy efficient potential, which can turn in financing capabilities. Energy consumption in this existing stock (build before 1995) is typically very high; in Latvia 98% of the stock has an average benchmark for heat energy consumption of 220kWh/m2 year, which is almost three times more than a new building made following the current building codes. But it has been observed that retrofitting of the existing buildings with the aim to reduce energy consumption leaves the negative effect on indoor climate and resident well-being. Indoor climate in renovated buildings is a very important issue. Usually the natural air exchange is reduced. Installation of new mechanical ventilation system is a very complex process, taking into account a number of factors as low ceilings, narrow spaces between premises and other. The goal of thesis is to review efficiency of heat recovery unit for ventilation system installed in the existing building. A comparison with natural ventilation systems is included. The work focuses on setting up a monitoring system for data collection and analysis in two newly renovated buildings; both for energy efficiency and indoor air quality. A comprehensive review aims at providing background information to the study. The study "Analysis of mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery in renovated apartment building" is written in English and contains: introduction, literature review, methodology, result analysis, discussions, modeling and conclusions.