Low Energy Buildings and Ventilation A presentation by Jason Morosko of Ultimate Air, Athens Ohio Presented at the Columbus Green Building Forum's 2011 Green Building EXPO

1. Low Energy Buildings
And Ventilation
Jason Morosko www.UltimateAir.com Athens, Ohio
jmorosko@ultimateair.com

2. About Me:
Jason Morosko, MSME, Certified Passive House Consultant
Manufacturer/Designer of energy recovery ventilation equipment
High performance home design consultant, specialty in envelop/mechanicals
Currently building a passive house – Oct 2011
Currently building a passive house – Oct 2011

3. “The concern is right on—that a tight house
without enough fresh air is a bad thing. But the
g f g
solution—to keep the house leaky—is wrong”
“What is more important than the air you
breathe?”

4. TOPICS
Design overview – low energy buildings
Impact of ventilation – importance of ERV’s
ERV design – and what s on the market
ERV design – and what’s on the market

5. DISCUSSION
What makes a house – energy efficient? How can we measure it?
A house should be designed before it is built (including the
mechanicals). )
A note on a set of plans I was reviewing – “HVAC, plumbing, and
electrical are to be design build. “ This should not happen.
TERMS – what do they mean?
EER, SEER, COP, Ton of cooling, BTU, kWh, HSPF, AFUE
The efficiencies of heating equipment….?
Th ffi i i f h ti i t ?
Consider – the heat loss of ducting/piping/installation can be up to
35%... Duct in the conditioned space?
35% Duct in the conditioned space?
Orientation can have more than a 20% impact on conditioning
Net Zero?

6. IS ORIENTATION IMPORTANT?

7. ENERGY EFFICIENT
• Definition of “green”, “low energy”, “net zero”, “LEED”, “passive house”….
• Air infiltration, IAQ, cfm50… and how are they related
Air infiltration, IAQ, cfm50… and how are they related
• Energy recovery ventilation
• How does a house lose heat (or gain heat)
• The ‘awesome’ house
• I l d
Insulated
• Air sealed
• Best windows and doors
• Least envelop penetrations
pp
• Best layout for efficient construction
• Orientation (windows)
• Shading
• thermal bridge free
thermal bridge free
• design and build for long life

8. BRAINSTORM
Thermal Envelop?
How does heat move into and out of the building?
Conduction, Convection, and Radiation.
Conduction Convection and Radiation
R‐Value? Walls? Windows?

9. VENTILATION
‐ Exhaust only
‐ Supply only
‐ BALANCED
Balanced: Air flow into and out of a defined volume in equal
Air flow into and out of a defined volume in equal amounts
Mechanical: Not passive? Usually with an electrical fan motor
Ventilation: Controlled movement of air into and out
Controlled movement of air into and out
of a building, generally using mechanical
means, through deliberately placed holes
in the Building Envelope ‐John Bower
Heat Recovery: The transfer of heat energy between air streams
Energy Recovery: The transfer of heat and latent (moisture) heat energy between
air streams
air streams

10. Types of Ventilators

11. Cross Flow and Counter Flow Flat Plate Cores

12. How Does A Rotary ERV Work?
As Stale Indoor Air is Exhausted
Heat and moisture
are captured
in core material
before stale air
before stale air
is exhausted
Captured
C d
heat and moisture
are transferred to
fresh air stream -
Air i fi
Ai is filtered
Fresh, Filtered, Conditioned Air is Delivered
F h Fil d C di i d Ai i D li d

13. ERV vs. HRV
In most applications it is better
l b
have moisture transfer
1. Hot humid outside condition: remove
humidity from the incoming air = ERV
2. Cold outside – dry inside: return as much
humidity as possible to the inside ERV
humidity as possible to the inside = ERV
3. Cold outside – excessively humid inside:
exhaust some humidity, but not all = ERV
If you always want to move all humidity from
If l tt ll h idit f
the outside to the inside, or from the
inside to outside, or if the humidity inside
y
and outside are always favorable = HRV

14. Choosing a ventilation unit
1. Energy Efficiency Rating
2.
2 Moisture Transfer Rating
Moisture Transfer Rating
3. Cost‐of‐Ownership
4. Ease of Installation/Operation
Ease of Installation/Operation
5. Fan power
6. Filtration
7. Service

15. Indoor Air Quality
How do we improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?
( )
First: Source Control
‐no pets, harmful cleaners, voc loaded building materials, …..
Second: Ventilation
‐bring air in from outside, expel air from inside, as efficiently as
possible
Third: Filtration
‐clean the inside air

16. Contaminants
Outdoor
Pollens
Molds
Dust
RADON
Indoor
People
Pet dander
P td d VOC’s
VOC’
Formaldehydes CO2
Molds
Bacteria
B t i

17. Current Recommendations
0.35 ACH Universal
3,000 ft2 x 8 ft ceiling = 24,000 ft3
24,000 ft3 0.35 ACH = 8,400 cfh
24 000 f 3 x 0 35 ACH 8 400 fh
8,400 cfh / 60 = 140 cfm
ASHRAE 62.2 Minimum Ventilation For Low
Rise Residential
# bedrooms + 1 x 7.5 cfm = 37.5
0.01 cfm x 3,000 ft2 = 30 cfm
Total =
Total = 67.5 cfm
67 5 cfm

18. CSA‐F326 Residential Ventilation Requirements 150 cfm
Room Type/Classification
Room Type/Classification Total Ventilation Capacity
Total Ventilation Capacity
A Rooms cubic feet/minute (cfm)
Master Bedroom (1) 20
Basement (unfinished) 20
Single Bedroom (3)
Si l B d (3) 10
Living Room (1) 10
Dining Room (1) 10
Family Room (1)
y ( ) 10
Recreation Room (1) 10
Other Habitable Rooms 10
B Rooms
B Rooms
Kitchen (1) 10
Bathrooms (2) 10
Laundry (1) 10
Utility Room 10

19. PHPP and ventilation rates
PHPP will calculate maximum ventilation flow, and
PHPP ill l l t i til ti fl d
average 24/7 operational flow
Looking both at achieving 0.3 ACH per volume
And looking at occupation driven requirements

20. Ventilation System Details

21. DEFINITIONS
EER and SEER Energy Efficiency Ratio and Seasonal EER…… Window AC use EER.
Central AC use SEER. BTU capacity divided by the wattage. In the
case of SEER – the ratio is defined by a particular season (climate).
y p ( )
BTU/watt‐hour.
Simplicity: Ave COP = 0.293 * SEER
COP Coefficient of performance. Unit less. Heat output divided by
electrical energy input. BTU per Hr / BTU per Hr.
l ti l i t BTU H / BTU H
HSPF Heating season performance factor. A measure of overall heating
efficiency of a heat pump. ‘Average’ seasonal COP.
Ave COP = 0.293 * HSPF
AFUE Annual fuel utilization efficiency. The average thermal efficiency of
the equipment for a year.
TON 1 refrigeration ton = 12,000 BTU/hr. Heat (removed) required to melt
1 ton of ice (2000lbs.) in 24 hours.
1 ton of ice (2000lbs ) in 24 hours

22. TYPICAL AFUE VALUES
Fuel Furnace/boiler AFUE
Cast iron (pre‐1970) 60%
g
Heating oil Retention head burner 70‐78%
Less tha
Mid efficiency 83‐89%
Central or baseboard 100%
Electric heating Geothermal heat pump see COP
an 1 COP
Air‐source heat pump see HSPF
Conventional 55‐65%
Natural gas Mid‐efficiency 78‐84%
P!
Condensing 90‐97%
Conventional 55‐65%
Propane Mid‐efficiency 79‐85%
Condensing 88‐95%
Conventional 45‐55%
Firewood Advanced 55‐65%
State‐of‐the‐Art
S f h A 75‐90%
75 90%
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_fuel_utilization_efficiency

23. THERMAL BRIDGE DISCUSSION
Definition of a thermal bridge: A building element which has a linear thermal
transmittance of greater than 0.01 W/mK – according to passive house.
g / g p
= 0.005778 BTU/hr.ft.F OR – R value less than 14.42.