Thermal heat losses on exterior ventilation systems

To be able to handle tomorrows need for limited energy consumption we need to reduce our use of energy. The building sector stands for around 40 % of all energy consumption in the society. The government has put up a goal to reduce the energy consumption in our buildings with 20 % by year 2020 and 50 % by year 2050 compared with year 1995. To be able to do reach that goal we need a more energy efficient building stock. The main part of the energy used in our buildings is used for space heating. By installing ventilation systems with heat recovery on the exhaust air it is possible to use the heat-energy in the exhaust air to warm up the incoming air. This can contribute to a reduction in energy use. A ventilation system with heat recovery on the exhaust air is space demanding and there can be problems with finding enough space to do the installation indoors. Therefore it can be an advantage to place the aggregate and the ducts on the outside of the buildings climate shell. A placement exterior of the buildings climate shell or in an unheated space leads to thermal heat losses. The aim with this essay is to investigate how significant the heat losses are on exterior placed ventilation systems. The investigation has been done with help of theoretical calculations and measurements of the temperature difference in the ventilation ducts. Analysis has been made on life cycle costs on how to reduce the heat losses in an economic manner. To buildings, Höstvägen 14 and 22 in Växjö, which have been equipped with exterior placed ventilation systems have been studied. The two buildings have two different types of installation of the ducts. Our result shows that the heat losses through the ventilation systems on Höstvägen 14 and 22 are significant. The majority of the losses occur in the ducts. In the aggregate the thermal bridges in the framework accounts for the larger part