ecodesign requirements

Non-residential ventilation units
Look into the future 2018 / 2020

 

Summary

A look at the minimum requirements shows that starting in 2018, very high requirements will be placed on ventilation units and their components. A more in-depth consideration shows that according to today's state of technology, the requirements of the Ecodesign Directive with respect to SFP, HCR and fan efficiency result in technically more exacting ventilation units to conform with these high efficiency standards.
The EU Commission has moreover indicated it might apply an even more rigorous Ecodesign Directive for ventilation units starting in 2020. This conforms with the EU Directive 2010/31, which regulates the total energy efficiency of buildings and requires that all new buildings (public buildings from 2018) must be lowest-energy buildings by the end of 2020.

Practical consequences
The following example should clarify the impact of the Ecodesign Directive for ventilation units. Used as reference is a central air-handling unit with a heat recovery of 55 % and an air velocity of 2.2 m / s in the clear unit cross-section (version 2015).

Basics of LCC calculation
Unit location	Essen, Germany
Annual operating hours	4171
Annual heating hours	3606
Annual cooling hours	565
Volume flow (ABL = ZUL)	12,000 m3/h
Heat-recovery system	Plate heat exchangers
Electrical costs	0.15 €/kWh
Heating costs	0.06 €/kWh

non-residential ventilation units

The future trend

Ecodesign Directive valid from	2016	2018
Unit configuration
Front ait velocity	1.8 m/s	1.4 m/s
Heat recovery efficiency	68%	75%
Footprint (set-up area)	39%	48%
Weight	39%	70%
Energy consumption
Heating capacity	- 42%	- 64%
Cooling capacity	- 2%	- 4%
Fan Power	- 4%	- 15%
Lifecycle costs
Investment costs	25%	57%
Annuity of the energy costs	- 19%	- 33%
Annuity of the capital costs	25%	57%
Total annuity	- 14%	- 24%
Amortisation	1.9 years	2.7 years

The values from the example reflect the future trend. Ventilation units will require more space in order to comply with the requirements of the Ecodesign Directive. Similarly, higher investment effort and expense must be expected since technically complex solutions will be required.