Improving building ventilation systems can have a twofold effect: it improves the indoor air quality of the building - assisting in restoring optimal occupant health and comfort - and, reduces energy use by lessening the demand for heating and cooling.  For this reason, we would like to address ventilation in two parts:

Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality Ventilation and Energy Efficiency

Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality

Ventilation is the combination of processes that bring fresh outdoor air into a building and exhaust stale indoor air.  In most office buildings this process is a mechanical one, performed by a series of fans, blowers and ductwork, that may or may not be connected with the building's heating and air conditioning systems.  When any one part of the total ventilation process is inadequate, indoor air pollutants can build up and heating and cooling can become unbalanced.

Indoor air pollution is caused by an accumulation of contaminants that come from in, and outside of the building.  These pollutants can include:

• Tobacco smoke
• Biological organisms and mold
  
• Carbon dioxide buildup
• Toxins and cancer-causing chemicals in cleaning agents 
• Pesticides tracked in from outside
• Air fragrances and de-odorizers

The health impacts of these pollutants vary in intensity from mildly irritating to debilitating: from headaches and drowsiness to cancer and Legionnaire's disease.  The combination of ailments that result from poor IAQ are commonly referred to as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).   Employees suffering from SBS are less productive in the work environment, may require advanced medical treatment, and may take more sick days - all factors which can aggravate a business or organization's operating costs. Working with a team of experts, Ecofutures Building can diagnose problems that exist in your building related to ventilation and indoor air quality and propose best-fit solutions with low up-front cost.

Visit our SBS webpage to learn more.

Ventilation and Energy Efficiency
While it is true that ventilation is an extremely important part of maintaining good indoor air quality, it is not true that ventilation equipment must always run at maximum capacity.  When the building was designed, engineers specified ventilation based on peak design conditions - the maximum amount of ventilation necessary.  Throughout the course of the year, there may be only a handful of times when this peak design condition is met.  The rest of the time, there may be fewer people using the building, so less ventilation is necessary.  Reducing building ventilation to match occupancy of the building saves energy without compromising indoor air quality.

Ecofutures may employ a variety of solutions to reduce energy consumption for ventilation:

• Demand-controlled ventilation modulates ventilated air to keep CO2 levels below a set point to match ventilation rates to the number of people occupying the space
• Energy management systems (also known as direct digital control systems) modulates HVAC equipment so that output capacity matches demand, rather than operating at maximum capacity continually
• Variable-speed drives on fans and pumps help equipment respond to building demand with lowest energy use*

*Many measures related to ventilation system equipment upgrades for energy efficiency are eligible for rebates through Xcel Energy.

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