Login
A ventilation performance report is mandatory for every new residential building in Flanders, for building permits issued since January, 1st 2016. This means that the features of the ventilation system as installed in the dwelling must be reported and that, in the EPB-report of the dwelling, these data must be used to justify the energy performance of the ventilation system.
To enhance the properly functioning of the ventilation systems, a ventilation preliminary design has to be made before the physical building process is started.
The EPB-regulation in Flanders defines sine 2006 minimal ventilation requirements per type of room. In 2015, a new regulation, which refers to STS-P73-1, was published. The STS-P 73-1 describes performance criteria for residential ventilation systems and how to report them.
Similar to the reporting of the airtightness of the building, the reporting of performance of the ventilation system is guarded by a quality framework. The quality framework requires that the preliminary design and the report after commissioning are made by a qualified reporter and that audits, both desktop and on-site, are performed by auditors from the organiser of the quality framework. This article also describes requirements for quality framework organisers as defined by the authorities in Flanders.
This article describes the quality framework and its output. Desktop and on-site controls represent both 10% of ventilation performance reports. They are done by 12 qualified auditors all around Flanders. The inspector has to inform BCCA of every inspection at least the day before and to send a message when the measurement actually starts and ends. The inspector is informed within 5 minutes after the end of the inspection whether he will be audited or not.
The article discusses some results of the quality framework: the effectiveness of the audits, the outcome of the audits on preliminary designs, the challenges in measuring ventilation flows on-site, the energy use of the fans and the conformity of ventilation systems with the regulatory requirements.
The article concludes that it is possible to set up an effective and efficient quality framework for inspections on ventilation systems. An intermediate step to fill the gap between the non-binding preliminary design of the ventilation system and the commissioning of the system 21 months later is presented. The situation for ventilation systems is not dramatic, but there is still room for improvement of the quality of ventilation systems in residential applications and on-site measurements require some guidance.