SVL News
enVerid: Innovative HVAC Load Reduction Modules
Don’t choose between air quality and energy efficiency. enVerid explains how to get both from one technology.
We recently sat down with Matthew Gundrum from enVerid as he explained how the company’s Sorbent Ventilation Technology (SVT) is changing how engineers design air delivery systems.
If you want to learn more about the latest technologies in HVAC at our bimonthly Coffee Break webinars, ask your SVL sales engineer for an invite to our future sessions.
What is Sorbent Ventilation Technology?
SVT is an innovation that enables tonnage reduction in a building’s air-handling equipment. This advanced air-scrubbing technology fully complies with ASHRAE standards, in which its air-cleaning abilities reduce the amount of outdoor air a building needs to meet code.
A smaller outdoor air requirement means a smaller first cost for new construction by reducing the tonnage of the specified air handling equipment. This translates into ongoing savings in energy use reduction over the life of the building.
Besides these savings, SVT delivers great IAQ results for the building occupants. It helps builders qualify for LEED, WELL, and other green building certifications in the categories of air quality enhancements and energy reduction.
How does SVT work?
SVT is a filtration product. Sorbent is a gaseous media that uses adsorption to remove the contaminants generated in a space. It is a subtractive media that adds nothing to the airstream (no byproducts). Instead, it captures and sequesters contaminants. The sorbent media is packaged into a filter, and the filters are packaged in different fan-powered boxes. It can be integrated with various mechanical design schemes.
How does employing SVT reduce outdoor air requirements while still meeting code?
When contaminants are generated in a space, they enter the return airstream that is often ejected outdoors. This necessitates bringing in a high volume of outdoor air to replace that contaminated airstream, and conditioning outdoor air is a continual expense for building owners.
SVT reuses the return air you’ve already paid to condition by scrubbing that airstream of contaminants before it’s mixed with the new supply air and recirculated. In this strategy, ASHRAE gives you credit for cleaning the airstream and allows a reduction in the amount of new outdoor air you must bring into the AHU.
Which ASHRAE code does this refer to?
ASHRAE 62.1 defines this strategy, the Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP), as a performance-based methodology that determines outdoor air requirements based on IAQ design targets and source-control and removal measures (like SVT).
IAQP results in equal or better IAQ than using 100% outdoor air (a strategy ASHRAE 62.1 calls the Ventilation Rate Procedure), especially when outdoor air is polluted or contains unusual contaminants. SVT is also fully compliant with International Mechanical Code.
How do the HVAC Load Reduction Modules work?
SVT may be deployed in a simple box with an ECM fan and a filter media core. In new construction or retrofits where RTUs are being replaced, SVT technology is available for integration into Daikin air handling equipment, requiring no new ductwork on the return side.
What are the best applications for SVT?
SVT is designed for spaces that use ASHRAE 62.1 to determine air changes and air quality, including offices, schools, commercial retail, event spaces, and other spaces prescriptively mentioned in that section.
This does not include spaces like critical healthcare settings with a mandated number of air changes per hour and anywhere with elevated exhaust needs, like commercial kitchens and laboratories, which require high volumes of makeup air.
Where can I learn more about SVT?
enVerid has over a thousand units installed and in design. This number is growing daily as more engineers learn that SVT is a great way to drive value for customers and be competitive in the marketplace.