National Ventilation, a leading UK-based ventilation manufacturer, has designed and supplied a whole-house ventilation system to an architect-built five-bedroom eco home in Carbis Bay, St Ives, Cornwall. Throughout the ventilation design and installation, the company worked closely with developer Evo Homes, who also benefitted from National Ventilation’s pre-install site visit, site support service, training, and technical support from start to finish.
Evo Homes, run by husband-and-wife team Mark Cope and Rachael Gaunt, has utilised whole-house ventilation with heat recovery by National Ventilation for the project which sits within a street of 16 energy-efficient homes for self-build and custom finish, on Menhyr Park in Carbis Bay. The five-bedroom detached family home is being built for a private client and features a Vent-Axia Sentinel Kinetic High Flow mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) unit, specified and supplied by National Ventilation, combined with an air source heat pump and solar panels to help achieve a comfortable EPC A-rated home.
Commenting on their relationship with National Ventilation, Mark, an experienced working site foreman and Evo Homes director, comments:
“We are very pleased with the technical support provided by National Ventilation both in design and during construction. Units and components are readily available from local merchants and duct runs are easy to incorporate within the building fabric. We are now also at the design stage for the next four homes at Menhyr Park and are fully committed to working with National Ventilation for our forthcoming projects.”
Rachael, architect and fellow director at Evo Homes, reflects on the changing landscape of sustainability and regulation in the UK noting:
“Modern homes need whole house ventilation systems to help keep internal environments fresh and healthy. As the airtightness of building fabric increases and SAP targets become harder to achieve, we see the value in installing MVHR with heat recovery in all of our projects moving forward. We took advantage of the training provided by National Ventilation to help us install, commission and service the systems we install.”
National Ventilation worked with Evo Homes to design a system that would provide the right levels of ventilation and would physically work within the structure. Being able to work with the architect and plan from the start made the ventilation design stage far easier and more efficient. National Ventilation specified the Sentinel Kinetic High Flow MVHR to provide highly efficient and effective ventilation to improve indoor air quality. Low carbon and energy efficient, the Sentinel Kinetic High Flow MVHR is ideal for larger homes and offers a whole building heat recovery system combining supply and extract ventilation in one unit. Alongside this, radial ducting was installed on the project, which offers simplified installation thanks to easy push-and-click fittings. The ducting is also easy to hide within a building. Furthermore, the design incorporated acoustic lined manifold boxes with an inline attenuator, which National Ventilation specifies as standard, to minimise break-out noise.
“Our free design service is available to anyone requiring assistance in designing ventilation systems and specifying the correct equipment,” explained Steve Daniels, Specification Manager at National Ventilation. “We work closely with architects and contractors throughout the design process. Communication is key on a project from the design service, to pre-order site visit, to commissioning. It is important customers feel free to ask us questions at any point of the project to help ensure the ventilation system operates as designed.”
As well as the system design, National Ventilation undertook a pre-order site visit to ensure that the design fit the project on the ground, as well as on paper. This important visit checks that everything will fit as designed and joists are where they are supposed to be. If the site does not reflect the original plans the quotation can then be tweaked by National Ventilation before the system is delivered, meaning greater efficiency and less waste. In addition, National Ventilation also offered Evo Homes training on how to set up and commission the MVHR unit.
National Ventilation’s specification team offers the free whole-house ventilation design service for design and build projects. Aimed at architects, developers and builders with developments of 100 plots or less, the service provides a full whole-house ventilation design, which will detail unit calculations, a full kit list, recommended duct routes, as well as a pre-order site visit where necessary. The design service is also not limited to domestic solutions; the design team can offer the same support for commercial and industrial applications.
To take up the free design service architects, developers and builders are able to simply go direct to the National Ventilation website at www.nationalventilation.co.uk/design-service/ where they can upload their building drawings. Once the design team has the project’s building drawings it will then produce free professional REVIT ventilation designs for the customer. The service will help in designing and specifying whole house ventilation, such as Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), with National Ventilation providing a free step-by-step guide to explain the process.
By using a free planning and advice service, such as the one offered by National Ventilation, architects, developers and builders can be safe in the knowledge that they are using a well-designed, fit for purpose system and will have a point of contact that will assist them throughout the entire job.
For further information on all products and services offered by National Ventilation telephone 01823 690 290 or visit http://www.nationalventilation.co.uk.