The incidence and cost to the business of sick building syndrome
could be reduced, and energy consumption significantly cut by
utilisation of innovative technology developed by Passivent Ltd.
Statistics show some 30% of employees working in air conditioned
offices suffer from the illness, whose risk factors include poor
levels of ventilation, poor air quality and low humidity: a
situation that may increase with the stricter airtightness
requirements of the latest Building Regulations.
Passivent’s Remote Air Dispersal (RAD) Airscoop unit naturally
ventilates the building to ensure a flow of fresh air into the
office environment. Unlike other systems, it has the flexibility in
its design to enable repositioning of the ceiling-mounted diffusers
should the office layout be altered, ensuring the staff still have
good ventilation without the discomfort of draughts.
And the system has benefits beyond occupant health: as it
principally functions via natural air movement, energy consumption
can be almost halved against that for air conditioned buildings,
capital costs are reduced by some 15%, the need for air conditioning
reduced or even eliminated, and associated maintenance costs also
cut.
Suitable for use on the top floor of most large or deep-plan
commercial buildings, Passivent’s RAD Airscoop comprises a roof
mounted terminal divided into four separate chambers which are
allocated to either draw fresh air into the building or exhaust the
‘used’ internal air. Flexible ducting, up to 10m long, is connected
to diffusers inset in the suspended ceiling carries the fresh air
into the workspace, creating displacement of the warm, ‘used’
internal air.
Should the office layout be altered, the ceiling diffusers can also
be repositioned to ensure staff still benefit from fresh air without
discomfort.
Because the system harnesses natural air movement (convection and
the venturi effect), the only electricity consumed is that to adjust
the ventilation flow louvres according to wind strength outside, and
the air quality and airflow within. As it uses natural air movement,
the system can function 24/7, 365 days a year, meaning the building
operators get ‘free’ night cooling, as the system continues working
at night, dispersing any excess heat and/or pollutant buildup
generated during the day.
The claims of Passivent’s Airscoop are reinforced by independent
research by BSRIA: its BG2/2005 Wind Driven Natural Ventilation
Systems study maintains the roof mounted ventilation will deliver
good comfort conditions, at low levels of energy consumption and
help avoid overheating. At one building in Co Antrim the Passivent
Airscoop ventilation is proving so effective that independent
testing showed the structure has one of the lowest measured internal
carbon dioxide levels in the region.
The RAD Airscoop is just part of Passivent’s range of sustainable
strategies to control and harness natural resources to benefit the
building occupants, including a raft of natural ventilation
solutions, natural daylight systems and solar control products.
Passivent is also a member of the NatVent™ EC/EU funded research
project co-ordinated by the Building Research Establishment to
develop practical, natural ventilation solutions for commercial
building.
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