To ventilate buildings, an unnecessary amount of air is blown in. That can be done smarter, thought the founders of Maxairea. Their solution? A CO2 filter: "That saves 30 percent energy and architects see numerous other benefits."
It takes a completely different view of ventilation for a while. If you already filter the CO2 out of the air you bring in, then you need to blow in much less. So then you also need to heat or cool a lot less air, and you save a lot of money that way. The Clever Air Care System is based on that idea. The filter reduces CO2 levels from 420 ppm to 0 to 100 ppm, depending on the time of day. "Because during the day, the filter gets full and becomes less effective," explains CEO of Maxairea William Janssen. "At night, heated air is then fed past it, emptying the filter again." And that heat is also returned to the room via the WTW system.
Development
The filter is based on Direct Air Capture technology, Janssen explains. "That technology already existed and is mainly used to store CO2 permanently and then sell credits. That's a serious market, but we stayed away from that. Using that technology to apply in air treatment, that didn't exist yet."
One of the co-founders of Maxairea is Box. "There they are always looking for innovations and how to market them. They figured out that they could use such a filter for air quality, especially for schools. And then they invested in a proof-of-concept with TU Twente. That study was done, and it proved that you could improve air quality with this technology. Then they were looking for parties who could bring it to the market, and that's when they came to me."
Air quality
But CO2 is not the only value to consider, so you have to take more factors into account. "That's why we have sensors inside that also measure humidity, temperature, and TVOCs," says Rahib Hamid, co-founder and involved in developing the system. "Because you shouldn't compromise on overall air quality."
"CO2 is very easy to detect, which is why CO2 is widely used as an indicator of air quality," Janssen adds. "But using CO2 as an indicator means a lot of over-ventilation. The other pillars of air quality are level much earlier than CO2. Therefore, by applying the filter, you can still save a lot."
"We are also going to measure for particulate matter," Rabih Hamid continues. "That mostly comes from outside, especially if you're on a highway, for example, and there's a traffic jam. You do have filters for that, but they keep getting full and then have to be emptied. But if you have to take in less outside air, so less particulate matter comes in."
From 50 to 75 people
The filter system is currently operational at a wholesale business in Cuijk. "We built a prototype, and it demonstrated here that it works well," Janssen says. "Compared to the open-window ventilation they had here before, the air quality and energy consumption improved by more than 80 percent."
In addition, a system is now being installed at Spie Building Solutions. Spie's building and installation was laid out for 50 people, but there are now about 75. "Actually, then you have to replace the air handling unit for a bigger one. And then the air ducts also have to be made bigger. Now that is not necessary and they only need to add the filter and an addition to the control technology."
Payback period
But according to Janssen, the system is not only good to use when the use of buildings changes. "You can also go with smaller ducts in new buildings. When you talk to architects, they see other advantages, which makes the payback period even shorter."
That payback period is estimated by Janssen at 3 years. With a WTW system, you retain 80 percent of the heat, and so you have to supplement or cool that 20 percent. "With the filter you can get by with the 24 cubic meters per person per hour that is stated as a minimum in the Building Code, while a multiple of that is common. And a filter lasts 3000 cycles, which is about 10 years. That makes it a very sensible investment."
At Spie, another side benefit is that they can take peaks out of the system because of the CO2 filter, Janssen concludes. "Because the heat pump doesn't have to work as hard. So the CO2 filter also makes another contribution to solving grid congestion."
Also read
This is an article from Construction and Installation Hub. Want to keep up with all the news from the construction and installation industry? Then take a look at the hub and sign up for the online community.
↗
