Development of a Direct-to-Suite Ventilation System for Multi-Unit Residential Building Retrofits

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Post-war multi-unit residential buildings are typically ventilated using a centralized make-up air unit (MAU), which is intended to positively pressurize the common building corridors and provide ventilation air to suites through door undercuts. Overcladding retrofits for these buildings are gaining popularity as they offer better thermal comfort and energy efficiency by improving building air tightness and insulation levels. However, as a result of these retrofits, the pressurized corridor ventilation strategy is becoming insufficient. The need for alternative ventilation strategies in these buildings is opening up a retrofit market which Nu-Air Ventilation Systems Inc. plans to capitalize on with a new low-profile, high-efficiency, heat/energy recovery ventilator (H/ERV).Through this research partnership, the H/ERV unit design will be optimized with respect to air flow rate requirements for different system layouts, unit dimensions including the height-to-width ratio, thermal efficiency compared to national standards and incentive program requirements, and hardware cost to ensure acceptability by a large market share. To determine the requirements for the design, computer simulations calibrated with field data will be used. These simulations will be based on a case study building in Ontario, representing Nu-Air's target archetype building.This process will leverage rarely collected interzonal air leakage data and air flow data derived from fan-pressurization and tracer gas testing to calibrate the airflow models. This unique approach will ensure a more realistic representation of these building types compared to existing models, to help develop the first H/ERV specifically designed for this retrofit application. This project will allow Nu-Air to bolster their H/ERV product line and give them a competitive advantage in the global marketplace, simultaneously strengthening the Canadian economy.