IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You

What Are the Key Differences Between ERVs and HRVs?As the names above explain, ERVs are ventilators that recover energy while HRVs recover heat. But how exactly are they different? The first key variance is that HRVs only recover heat whereas ERVs recover both heat and humidity. This is explained later on in the podcast.Additional differences between ERVs and HRVs include the following:• HRVs are prone to condensation and require drain pans. ERVs don't experience this and don't need drain pans.• HRVs cannot be installed in any orientation because of their drain pans. ERVs can be installed in multiple orientations.• HRVs must go through an active defrost, which limits ventilation potential. ERVs don't need defrost, which maximizes energy efficiency and ventilation potential.• HRVs can only be installed in colder northern climates. ERVs can be installed in any climate.Before continuing on, let's take a more detailed look at sensible vs. latent energy and why they both matter for ventilation. Sensible energy is dry heat and is the temperature that you can feel or sense. Latent energy is wet heat and is the energy a substance absorbs or releases when a phase change occurs, such as water converting into vapor. Unlike sensible energy, latent energy doesn't change the temperature and thus can't be felt. When looking at the combination of both sensible and latent energy, this is called total energy. ERVs recover total energy (heat and humidity), whereas HRVs only recover sensible energy (heat).As Marks outlined in the podcast, “the main difference between the two is an HRV only recovers sensible heat in the air exchange between the exhaust air and incoming air and an ERV recovers both total energy consisting of heat and humidity.” He continued with an example: “In the case where you have a controlled space with a desired humidity level, you're sending out humidity with the exhaust air if the outdoor air coming inside is too humid. This is the primary advantage of having an ERV over an HRV. An HRV will just warm up one airstream and cool down the other airstream.”Why are both sensible and latent energy important for ventilation? Agopian dug a little deeper on the topic. “If I tell you it's 95 degrees outdoors, you'll say it's hot, but if I say it's minus 20, then you'll say it's pretty cold. That's the actual temperature that your body senses, and this is sensible energy. The wet heat that is in concert with this dry heat is the humidity."Agopian continued, "when delineating the difference between sensible energy (the dry heat or actual temperature) and the latent energy (the moisture that's in the air) we realize that there are two parts to the equation to give you your total energy. Only focusing on one part of the energy equation is like leaving money on the table for something you're trying to buy. Of course you want to remove the heat in the summertime, but you also want to remove the humidity. And an ERV accomplishes both of these goals.”Going further Marks added that, “the work your AC has to do to remove the moisture is in some cases far in excess of what it takes to cool [the dry bulb temperature] down. An ERV has a special membrane in it and it's unique in that it enables moisture to pass through it. Air runs through [the membrane flutes] and transfers heat via sensible conduction but it also passes moisture via diffusion and that's different from an HRV. An HRV is just a plate-on-plate heat exchanger with very thin material.”How Are ERVs and HRVs Similar?After discussing the differences between ERVs and HRVs, the topic moved to the similarities. Marks kicked off the conversation with a quick summary. “They both recover energy. They save you money on your power bill. They both have balanced ventilation. Usually they both filter the air. The big core difference is the heat exchanger. Is it just exchanging sensible heat? That's an HRV. If it's exchanging sensible and latent heat, then it's an ERV.”Adding to this was Agopian. “A recovery ventilator, regardless of whether it's an ERV or an HRV, is used to displace air and filter the outdoor air that's coming in.” Along these lines, he noted that most HRVs use only Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 8 filtration and ERVs today have higher capabilities and they can adopt MERV 13 filtration. For background, MERV ratings measure a filter's capacity to capture particles of varying sizes. For example, a MERV 8 filter only captures 20% of the smallest particles while a MERV 13 filter captures 50%. Plus, MERV 13 filters are more effective at capturing larger particles.However, the key difference between the two systems—humidity control—was emphasized by Agopian. “An ERV gives you a little more help to dehumidify within the space as compared to an HRV that doesn't offer anything in terms of humidity control. With an ERV it's a lot more efficient than not.”Along those lines, Agopian addressed outdated thinking about ERVs vs. HRVs. “It used to be thought that ERVs are great only down south where there's high humidity. Well that's true, but as we go north, and even in Canada, we see a lot of humidity as well. Does it get as humid in New York City, Montreal, and Toronto as it does in Seattle? Yes. We do need ERVs in the summertime, and now more than ever, we have some humidity within spaces in the wintertime in the northern regions. An ERV will allow you to keep that humidity indoors.”Building on this point was Marks. “The misconception is, ‘I have an HRV because I live in a cold climate and an ERV doesn't provide much value.' But the wildcard is whether you are conditioning air in the winter. If you have a humidifier, you're evaporating water and adding a cooling load to heat up your house to turn that water into water vapor. If you ventilate, you send that water vapor outside and bring in cold air that will dry out your home. Conversely, an ERV resists humidity changes.”What Are the Main Negatives When Comparing ERVs and HRVs?The conversation then delved further into the differences between ERVs and HRVs, digging deeper into the main negatives. Marks explained, “When you value fresh air, you bring in more of it and you have to do energy recovery. An HRV recovers energy, but does that solve the entire problem? We know an HRV can't mitigate moisture coming into your home. An ERV is a great tool to bring in fresh air, recover humidity, save money and be energy efficient and healthy at the same time.”Discussing the operational differences between ERVs and HRVs was Agopian. “Number one, because you're not transferring humidity in an HRV, in wintertime humidity does condense and freeze up. All HRVs have an active defrost cycle in northern areas with snow. This means that for a period of time, ice needs to be melted and you have no ventilation. In addition, because you have defrost, there's a pipe dangling down from an HRV. Sometimes drains clog and you have a pool of water in your basement. An ERV is almost maintenance-free as compared to an HRV. Further, the goal as we move forward from all cognizant authorities is continuous ventilation. Thus, they're saying to use an ERV everywhere.”Summing up the podcast was Marks. “If you're operating at a temperature far below the freezing point, frost will start moving across the HRV heat exchanger until it's completely blocked. That's why HRVs have a defrost cycle, during which there's no more heat recovery. It's just exhausting air to thaw out the HRV. If you wanted to have equal performance, then you should oversize the HRV because it's not really doing any recovery during defrost. The winter performance of an ERV is far superior to an HRV.”

Ventilation is the introduction of outdoor air into an indoor space, and it has evolved over time. Some of the first research on the topic was done by James Billings, an 1870s Johns Hopkins researcher and physician who postulated that carbon dioxide (CO2) was an accurate measure of impurity emissions from the human body. He determined that there needed to be a certain amount of fresh air brought indoors to keep people healthy. Additionally, he also advocated for 60 cubic feet per minute (CFM) per person. Billings' findings hold up today, as most physicians, doctors and health professionals say the optimal ventilation rate is 50-60 CFM per person.However, there's pushback to implementing such a high ventilation rate because of the associated energy penalties. Indeed, this point was hammered home during the oil embargo days in the late 1970s when energy prices skyrocketed. At that time, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the industry went from 20-30 CFM per person down to five CFM per person to save energy.Fortunately though, the HVAC and engineering communities realized that such a low ventilation rate promoted serious health issues—some reversible and others irreversible—due to deficient indoor air quality (IAQ). Thus, in the mid-to-late 1980s, there was a change when the importance of cleaner and healthier indoor air for occupant health and wellbeing became clear. What's more, attention grew toward ERVs as an effective means to reduce ventilation energy use and costs.The criticality of high-quality indoor air was hammered home in the last 36 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Agopian noted, “IAQ has an immediate value. We know that there could be something in the air that you can't see, breathe, taste or touch that could technically kill you in two weeks. We need to understand that the quality of air has a direct and proportional impact on the quality of our lives.” He also explained that test scores in schools can improve anywhere between 12-18% if CO2 is lowered within the space. Further, better IAQ supports improved sleep and increased productivity. Indeed, he said that RenewAire practices what it preaches and provides a high CFM rate throughout the entire building. In some spaces, such as the training center, cafeteria and gym, there's absolutely no air recirculation.For Marks, he places a high value on having healthy IAQ for his family at home where his ventilation system brings in as much fresh air as possible. Marks said that in his residence he does 40 CFM per person, which is a tremendous amount of air. He stated, “I have two young daughters and I want them to be healthy and I want to make sure they're breathing the best-quality air possible. That's what I do for work so it only makes sense that I do it also for my kids. I would encourage other people to do the same thing because you might be surprised at the poor quality of your indoor air.”Marks summarized the four different ventilation strategies for homeowners to enhance IAQ:• Natural ventilation: This is the easiest option, which can be done by opening a window.• Exhaust-only ventilation: You can pull air out using an exhaust fan, typically via a bath fan, and air will reinfiltrate via any openings in the structure.• Supply-only ventilation: This is referred to as mechanical ventilation where you're bringing air into a structure and letting it seep out through little micro-openings inside a home.• Balanced ventilation: You're pushing in high-quality filtered air and pulling out air at the same time. Essentially, you're controlling the point of ingress and the point of exhaust for the air.Agopian followed up by saying that when we look at exhaust-only ventilation, back 20-30 years ago it was a different story because sealing integrity wasn't as tight as it is today. There were openings around windows or doors that provided direct access to the outside. So, when you exhausted and depressurized a structure, air would come inside under the door or between cracks in the windows.He continued saying that today, because of the tremendous sealing integrity of structures, air can no longer come through those direct openings. Instead, what you have now is air coming through the structure via a complex path in between studs, through the walls and over and in between insulation. Thus, you're bringing in air that used to be clean but might not be so anymore.Agopian then said that balanced ventilation is the assured way of replacing one cubic foot of stale indoor air with one cubic foot of fresh and clean outdoor air. He stated that this is the only way to guarantee a positive displacement of internally generated contaminants.When deciding on a particular ventilation strategy, another component to consider is if energy recovery should also be applied. Many people see it as an additional cost, but this isn't the case. Agopian explained why, “With energy recovery, you're recapturing the energy that you spent a lot of money on to cool and dehumidify or heat and humidify the outdoor air coming inside. So, when you look at balanced ventilation with energy recovery, we have paybacks that can be as little as two years to about four years. When considering a structure like a home, office building, condo, school or whatever it may be, these structures are built to last 25+ years. Thus, you have an initial cost for the first two to four years and after that the energy recovery system pays you back.”Taking the case further, Agopian stated “60 CFM is what we need in order to be healthy and productive within the built environment, in which we spend 90% of our time. But how do we rationalize that? How do we go from 15-20 CFM per person up to 60 CFM? The best way to achieving that goal while maintaining energy-code requirements is balanced ventilation with energy recovery applied.”Adding to this point was Marks. “I do 40 CFM at home, but I also do energy recovery so I don't have to pay the huge penalty. I value fresh air tremendously, especially for my kids. That means I'm bringing in more air, and more air means more energy recovery. Thus, if you value fresh air you're going to want to recover energy as well.”Closing out the podcast was Agopian with a quote from a study by Lawrence Berkeley Lab: “Overall, the number of reported statistically significant improvements in health with increased ventilation rates far exceeded the anticipated chance improvements in health.” What does this mean, asked Agopian? He said this shows that increasing ventilation will improve your health similar to other positive activities. Agopian concluded, “I'm not saying stop going to the gym, don't eat well or only sleep two hours a night. What I'm saying is keep those up and increase ventilation as well because it gives you just as much of a health benefit.”

After COVID-19, the criticality of high-level indoor air quality (IAQ) is clear. With invisible, odorless and potentially deadly indoor air contaminants swirling around, it's evident that increased ventilation is essential for safeguarding occupant health. This is especially crucial in tight structures that trap contaminants indoors.However, more ventilation requires more energy, which boosts costs and runs counter to decarbonization efforts. Plus, conventional ventilation systems can be tricky and time-consuming to operate. Not anymore. That's where the combination of smart controls and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) comes in to provide an effortless, energy-efficient and cost-effective solution. This is particularly true for residential and smaller commercial—or “resimmercial”—applications.This topic was covered during the latest episode of “IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality & You.” Host Michelle Dawn Mooney spoke with Nick Agopian, VP, Sales & Marketing at RenewAire and Ross Trethewey, Founder and Lead Engineer at TE2 Engineering. Agopian and Trethewey made it apparent that smart controls and ERVs are a smart choice for enhancing IAQ right now and in the future. Agopian stated, “Going forward, the market and updated codes will require an increase in ventilation rates to bring more outdoor air indoors. Smart-controlled sensors can monitor indoor air contaminants and activate boost-mode ventilation when levels get too high. Thus, smart controls will become a necessity to increase ventilation, lower the concentration of indoor air contaminants and enhance IAQ for yes safety, but also better health.”

What role does ventilation play in addressing global climate change? A lot, as it turns out. In the recent episode of “Indoor Air Quality And You," host Gabrielle Bejarano, recently spoke with Nick Agopian, VP Sales & Marketing at RenewAire LLC about how the key to countering climate change is through a three-pronged attack of decarbonization, building resiliency and energy recovery ventilation.Agopian revealed that the built environment is a big part of the problem, as its responsible for about 47% of global CO2 emissions. According to Agopian, “When we take a look at what's been happening in the last couple of thousand years compared to the last 20 million years, we see that the impact we have had as humans has been 10,000 times more dramatic than the last ice age. So, when we look at decarbonization, we look at the impact that us as human beings have had on earth.”For engineers, contractors and architects, lowering a building's overall energy consumption or energy load is a great decarbonization method. But how to approach this is tricky because a major contributor to the overall energy load is mechanical ventilation. Reducing airflow indoors to lower energy use is dangerous, as it creates health and safety issues for occupants. As buildings get tighter, they seal in contaminants, causing deficient indoor air quality. Typical contaminants include off-gassing from carpeting, furniture and building materials, excess humidity and mold, odors, cooking and cleaning fumes, CO2, hair and fibers. So how can we lower energy consumption without comprising occupant health? The answer, according to Agopian, is energy recovery ventilation.Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are designed to meet decarbonization's stringent energy efficiency requirements. They can provide increased ventilation indoors without increasing the overall energy load, as ERVs reuse otherwise-wasted total energy from the exhaust airstream to condition the incoming outdoor air.But what about building resiliency, how does it fit into the story? Like decarbonization, building resiliency is a tool in addressing climate change. And like decarbonization, energy recovery ventilation can play a big role in this green-building method. Building resiliency is focused on increasing ventilation indoors to not only ensure occupant health and safety but also to protect the life cycle of building. Safeguarding buildings from moisture/mold and helping them to stay online during and after major climate events (like hurricanes, blizzards or heat waves) are some of the reasons that cognizant authorities like ASHRAE and CIBSE advocate for designing and operating mechanical systems that are focused on building lifecycles rather than just energy efficiency or occupant comfort.In sum, with energy recovery ventilation, the built environment can have increased ventilation (building resiliency) without increasing the energy load (decarbonization) and address climate change issues.Decarbonization can help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 47%.Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are designed to meet decarbonization's stringent energy efficiency requirements while still providing increased ventilation.RenewAire ERVs lower ventilation loads by up to 70%.

"IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You" podcast, host Tyler Kern chatted with Nick Agopian, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire LLC, and Brian Simmons, RenewAire Senior Technical Sales Support Specialist, regarding ERVs and home ventilation. They discussed: Purpose of ventilation ERVs and why we need them in the HVAC industry The importance of codes in HVAC Previously, providing healthy and efficient ventilation was not the priority of the home building industry. Therefore, air quality in residential spaces lagged in comparison to commercial spaces. The energy crisis of the 1970s and 80s highlighted this gap in residential ventilation. Traditional homes were poorly insulated and prone to leaky airways, which increased the energy consumption for heating and cooling systems to optimize the air quality within the space. Energy recovery ventilation has emerged as a technology that allows contractors and home builders to provide increased ventilation without increasing energy use. “Energy recovery ventilation offers balanced ventilation in the home,” noted Agopian. All homes must be properly ventilated, most times by opening adjacent windows. However, in periods of extreme temperatures, this may be impossible. ERV removes one cubic foot of stale or contaminated air within the internal environment. It recovers the energy within the air and uses it temporarily to purify another cubic foot of outdoor air to replace the contaminated air. Therefore, ERV is a cost-effective solution that offers balanced ventilation within a closed system. The HVAC industry is regulated by codes, which are in place to ensure customers get the minimum amount of quality and design advocated as the standard required by law. For contractors and home builders, providing the bare minimum amount of ventilation required by law is hardly ideal. In a post-pandemic society, more homeowners are more conscious of the air they breathe and are asking for a higher standard of indoor air quality. As Agopian asserts, there is a need to rewrite the standards to upgrade the codes such that the goal of balanced ventilation can be achieved.” Another reason why it might be time to re-evaluate the current ventilation code is that the standard for commercial buildings is different from residential buildings. For a time, home ventilation was an afterthought within the industry. According to Simmons, “ERVs are a long-term investment, an upgrade from the usual ‘minimum'—air is clean while heating and cooling are conserved.” This is due to the difference in the intensity of the populace and activities within the space. Previously, experts thought the bathroom was the primary source of air contamination in the home. However, activities in the kitchen are the primary source of pollution—gas stoves generate an unsafe level of air pollution.  Since we have established the fact that the major source of pollution in the house is mostly the kitchen, we need to take care of our environment. Whatever air is in such places is what we breathe in. Good ventilation doesn't cost so much, at least anything for good health. HVAC specialists must take it upon themselves to educate contractors on the importance of ERVs. These contractors need to evolve and accept the new technology so they can offer it to the customers.  Finally, ERVs can be put in new and existing buildings. Installing ERVs is straightforward and can be done by HVAC companies. Maintaining an ERV is pretty easy. Here are some tips to maintain an ERV: Avoid putting oil into it Check the outside vents to remove any trapped dirt Check and replace the filters on the inside vents

"IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You" podcast, host Tyler Kern chatted with Nick Agopian, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire LLC, and Brian Simmons, RenewAire Senior Technical Sales Support Specialist, regarding ERVs and home ventilation. They discussed: Purpose of ventilation ERVs and why we need them in the HVAC industry The importance of codes in HVAC Previously, providing healthy and efficient ventilation was not the priority of the home building industry. Therefore, air quality in residential spaces lagged in comparison to commercial spaces. The energy crisis of the 1970s and 80s highlighted this gap in residential ventilation. Traditional homes were poorly insulated and prone to leaky airways, which increased the energy consumption for heating and cooling systems to optimize the air quality within the space. Energy recovery ventilation has emerged as a technology that allows contractors and home builders to provide increased ventilation without increasing energy use. “Energy recovery ventilation offers balanced ventilation in the home,” noted Agopian. All homes must be properly ventilated, most times by opening adjacent windows. However, in periods of extreme temperatures, this may be impossible. ERV removes one cubic foot of stale or contaminated air within the internal environment. It recovers the energy within the air and uses it temporarily to purify another cubic foot of outdoor air to replace the contaminated air. Therefore, ERV is a cost-effective solution that offers balanced ventilation within a closed system. The HVAC industry is regulated by codes, which are in place to ensure customers get the minimum amount of quality and design advocated as the standard required by law. For contractors and home builders, providing the bare minimum amount of ventilation required by law is hardly ideal. In a post-pandemic society, more homeowners are more conscious of the air they breathe and are asking for a higher standard of indoor air quality. As Agopian asserts, there is a need to rewrite the standards to upgrade the codes such that the goal of balanced ventilation can be achieved.” Another reason why it might be time to re-evaluate the current ventilation code is that the standard for commercial buildings is different from residential buildings. For a time, home ventilation was an afterthought within the industry. According to Simmons, “ERVs are a long-term investment, an upgrade from the usual ‘minimum'—air is clean while heating and cooling are conserved.” This is due to the difference in the intensity of the populace and activities within the space. Previously, experts thought the bathroom was the primary source of air contamination in the home. However, activities in the kitchen are the primary source of pollution—gas stoves generate an unsafe level of air pollution.  Since we have established the fact that the major source of pollution in the house is mostly the kitchen, we need to take care of our environment. Whatever air is in such places is what we breathe in. Good ventilation doesn't cost so much, at least anything for good health. HVAC specialists must take it upon themselves to educate contractors on the importance of ERVs. These contractors need to evolve and accept the new technology so they can offer it to the customers.  Finally, ERVs can be put in new and existing buildings. Installing ERVs is straightforward and can be done by HVAC companies. Maintaining an ERV is pretty easy. Here are some tips to maintain an ERV: Avoid putting oil into it Check the outside vents to remove any trapped dirt Check and replace the filters on the inside vents

When it comes to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, women continue to be underrepresented. Many industries that rely on a foundation of STEM education are dominated by a predominately male workforce. However, the tide is turning with more women entering the HVAC industry year over year.Tyler Kern, host of IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You, sat down with Nick Agopian and four female leaders and trailblazers from RenewAire, including:• Jessie Busse, Senior Engineering Data Analyst • Cassandra Kalinowski, Senior Technical Sales Support Engineer• Michelle Pelicos, Western Regional Sales Director• Meghan Ziegler, Senior Design EngineerThe panelists' experience ranges from decades of experience to recent college graduates at the beginning of their careers. And their training and education are all-encompassing including degrees in Mechanical Engineering, English Business Writing, and Marketing to name a few.How they entered the HVAC industry varies as well, from beginning in an administrative role that led to selling energy recovery and indoor air quality products, and college internships turning into full-time opportunities these women come from all walks of life and have unique insights into the career possibilities for women within the HVAC industry.Pelicos noted that when she entered the industry in the mid-1980s, she was very fortunate as “the organization [she] worked with was very open to sharing knowledge and teaching [her] more of the technical parts of the industry.” When she started there was lots of room to grow but that changed with people entering the industry, especially women, getting pigeonholed into specific jobs and job functions, and that has changed again.Ziegler agreed, “I feel like it's becoming slightly more common to not be the only woman in the room when we are having meetings or coming into large groups.” She continued to note that it still happens a lot because it is a male-dominated industry. However, there is a shift happening on college campuses with women comprising 30 to 40% of students in STEM classrooms.This is in part happening because of the outreach occurring to get women and girls involved in STEM programs at a younger age. “At my university, we had a Woman in Engineering program run by one of my female professors. We did a lot of going out to middle schools and high schools… talking to the kids, saying these are some other options that are available to you if you enjoy science, if you enjoy math,” said Busse.Kalinowski had similar experiences, “when I was in college a professor reached out to me a couple of times to help with events on campus to promote getting young children, young girls in STEM. One of them was a panel discussion a lot like what we're doing now actually, and it was to show, to give the kids the opportunity to see women like their future selves in a position that they could reach.”What is clear – to get more women into the STEM workforce, both men and women within these industries need to continue raising awareness of the career opportunities available to them.

When it comes to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, women continue to be underrepresented. Many industries that rely on a foundation of STEM education are dominated by a predominately male workforce. However, the tide is turning with more women entering the HVAC industry year over year.Tyler Kern, host of IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You, sat down with Nick Agopian and four female leaders and trailblazers from RenewAire, including:• Jessie Busse, Senior Engineering Data Analyst • Cassandra Kalinowski, Senior Technical Sales Support Engineer• Michelle Pelicos, Western Regional Sales Director• Meghan Ziegler, Senior Design EngineerThe panelists' experience ranges from decades of experience to recent college graduates at the beginning of their careers. And their training and education are all-encompassing including degrees in Mechanical Engineering, English Business Writing, and Marketing to name a few.How they entered the HVAC industry varies as well, from beginning in an administrative role that led to selling energy recovery and indoor air quality products, and college internships turning into full-time opportunities these women come from all walks of life and have unique insights into the career possibilities for women within the HVAC industry.Pelicos noted that when she entered the industry in the mid-1980s, she was very fortunate as “the organization [she] worked with was very open to sharing knowledge and teaching [her] more of the technical parts of the industry.” When she started there was lots of room to grow but that changed with people entering the industry, especially women, getting pigeonholed into specific jobs and job functions, and that has changed again.Ziegler agreed, “I feel like it's becoming slightly more common to not be the only woman in the room when we are having meetings or coming into large groups.” She continued to note that it still happens a lot because it is a male-dominated industry. However, there is a shift happening on college campuses with women comprising 30 to 40% of students in STEM classrooms.This is in part happening because of the outreach occurring to get women and girls involved in STEM programs at a younger age. “At my university, we had a Woman in Engineering program run by one of my female professors. We did a lot of going out to middle schools and high schools… talking to the kids, saying these are some other options that are available to you if you enjoy science, if you enjoy math,” said Busse.Kalinowski had similar experiences, “when I was in college a professor reached out to me a couple of times to help with events on campus to promote getting young children, young girls in STEM. One of them was a panel discussion a lot like what we're doing now actually, and it was to show, to give the kids the opportunity to see women like their future selves in a position that they could reach.”What is clear – to get more women into the STEM workforce, both men and women within these industries need to continue raising awareness of the career opportunities available to them.

Nick Agopian, VP of Sales & Marketing at RenewAire, and Paul Raymer, Chief Investigator at Heyoka Indoor Solutions LLC, joined Tyler Kern for the third installment of their focus on indoor air quality (IAQ) best practices for the home with a fascinating look at improving disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). No one likes to dwell on life's end, but enhancing one's lifespan is worth pondering, and a pondering Raymer and Agopian went.“You want to live a healthy life up until the last moment,” Raymer said. “DALYs are a way of evaluating diseases in populations that impact the healthy life of people, so that if your life expectancy is, let's say, 100 years, but the last ten years of that, you're in a wheelchair, those are disability-affected life years.” In terms of indoor air quality, there are many issues proven to affect people's health from unconditioned air. Air pollutants contribute to a host of disorders that the European Union (EU) estimates equal more than 2 million DALY years. The EU is not alone in this research either. Experts contend that the cumulative effects of poor IAQ will lower life expectations. Clearly, overall health should be taken very seriously. And it's not just health and wellness that is impacted by ventilation; it also can affect cognition and productivity. Eating healthier diets and exercising are often steps people take to extend their life, but IAQ may play an even more vital role. For instance, cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, asthma, COPD, upper and lower respiratory infections, and acute CO toxication are illnesses and diseases that are linked to poor ventilation. Researchers at Berkley Lab even found that poor ventilation hurts learning and test-taking, claiming SAT test scores rose by 18% with better IAQ in schools. It's clear that air quality should be considered a key factor in a holistic health approach. And unlike the other health trends, ventilation will save you money after a certain amount of time. For Agopian, he believes wholly that “ventilation is life and … a no brainer.”

Nick Agopian, VP of Sales & Marketing at RenewAire, and Paul Raymer, Chief Investigator at Heyoka Indoor Solutions LLC, joined Tyler Kern for the third installment of their focus on indoor air quality (IAQ) best practices for the home with a fascinating look at improving disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). No one likes to dwell on life's end, but enhancing one's lifespan is worth pondering, and a pondering Raymer and Agopian went.“You want to live a healthy life up until the last moment,” Raymer said. “DALYs are a way of evaluating diseases in populations that impact the healthy life of people, so that if your life expectancy is, let's say, 100 years, but the last ten years of that, you're in a wheelchair, those are disability-affected life years.” In terms of indoor air quality, there are many issues proven to affect people's health from unconditioned air. Air pollutants contribute to a host of disorders that the European Union (EU) estimates equal more than 2 million DALY years. The EU is not alone in this research either. Experts contend that the cumulative effects of poor IAQ will lower life expectations. Clearly, overall health should be taken very seriously. And it's not just health and wellness that is impacted by ventilation; it also can affect cognition and productivity. Eating healthier diets and exercising are often steps people take to extend their life, but IAQ may play an even more vital role. For instance, cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, asthma, COPD, upper and lower respiratory infections, and acute CO toxication are illnesses and diseases that are linked to poor ventilation. Researchers at Berkley Lab even found that poor ventilation hurts learning and test-taking, claiming SAT test scores rose by 18% with better IAQ in schools. It's clear that air quality should be considered a key factor in a holistic health approach. And unlike the other health trends, ventilation will save you money after a certain amount of time. For Agopian, he believes wholly that “ventilation is life and … a no brainer.”

Nick Agopian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire, and Paul Raymer, Chief Investogator from Heyoka Indoor Solutions LLC, joined Host Tyler Kern for the second of three series episodes on improving indoor air quality.Agopian explained why balanced ventilation with outdoor air is so important. When one cubic foot of air moves out of a building, one cubic foot moves back in. This new air can can take on internally generated contaminants from the building, but as the air moves back out, Mother Nature can help purify the contaminants. “Ventilation, in concert with Mother Nature, helps us to remediate some of the problems we have indoors,” Agopian said. Filtering can also be beneficial for reducing contaminants, but it can filter both good and bad pathogens. However, Agopian does believe filtration has its time and place. “Ventilation with filtration can be a good thing in order to achieve the highest level of good indoor air quality or great indoor air quality resolving the issue that we talked about earlier which is sick building syndrome,” he stated.Agopian and Raymer explained how crucial balanced ventilation is for indoor air quality (IAQ). The solution to pollution is dilution achieved via increased and balanced ventilation. With enough controlled fresh and filtered outdoor air coming in to replace equal parts of stale indoor air via balanced design, the indoor air quality will be enhanced. “All the leaks and cracks in the house are neutralized, and that is one of the most important parts of balance ventilation, Raymer explained.” He added that you really need to know what you're doing and make sure equipment works how it is designed to work, which is part of the reason Paul wrote the second version of the Residential Ventilation Guidebook as a reference.How is balance ventilation achieved? “Each room has its own particular needs and requirements based on what you're using it for and how you're using it,” said Agopian. He added, “Demand-based control is paramount, without a doubt.” A balanced ventilation system exhausts contaminants from the whole house. Generally, exhaust-only ventilation units, like bath fans and or oven hoods, only expel contaminants from a localized single source. Additionally, balanced ventilation provides filtered supply air whereas exhaust-only units bring in uncontrolled outdoor air that has seeped through cracks and openings. Uncontrolled air is not filtered air. Controlled supply air is preferable as contaminants are filtered out. “Balance is not just the wholistic look of one system, but balance is each individual room accordingly,” Agopian stated.Moving forward, it may be beneficial to examine ventilation from a load-based lens for each room. For example, the ACA Manual J looks at heat load from each room by classifying rooms into Category A (supply) rooms and Category B (exhaust) rooms, which could conceptually carry over to ventilation.Clearly, increased ventilation is an essential asset to any house. But what about the monster under the bed, the cost? Stay tuned and join for Episode Three of the series to find out more. Subscribe to the IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for the latest insights and news about the air quality in your home and office.

Nick Agopian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire, and Paul Raymer, Chief Investogator from Heyoka Indoor Solutions LLC, joined Host Tyler Kern for the second of three series episodes on improving indoor air quality.Agopian explained why balanced ventilation with outdoor air is so important. When one cubic foot of air moves out of a building, one cubic foot moves back in. This new air can can take on internally generated contaminants from the building, but as the air moves back out, Mother Nature can help purify the contaminants. “Ventilation, in concert with Mother Nature, helps us to remediate some of the problems we have indoors,” Agopian said. Filtering can also be beneficial for reducing contaminants, but it can filter both good and bad pathogens. However, Agopian does believe filtration has its time and place. “Ventilation with filtration can be a good thing in order to achieve the highest level of good indoor air quality or great indoor air quality resolving the issue that we talked about earlier which is sick building syndrome,” he stated.Agopian and Raymer explained how crucial balanced ventilation is for indoor air quality (IAQ). The solution to pollution is dilution achieved via increased and balanced ventilation. With enough controlled fresh and filtered outdoor air coming in to replace equal parts of stale indoor air via balanced design, the indoor air quality will be enhanced. “All the leaks and cracks in the house are neutralized, and that is one of the most important parts of balance ventilation, Raymer explained.” He added that you really need to know what you're doing and make sure equipment works how it is designed to work, which is part of the reason Paul wrote the second version of the Residential Ventilation Guidebook as a reference.How is balance ventilation achieved? “Each room has its own particular needs and requirements based on what you're using it for and how you're using it,” said Agopian. He added, “Demand-based control is paramount, without a doubt.” A balanced ventilation system exhausts contaminants from the whole house. Generally, exhaust-only ventilation units, like bath fans and or oven hoods, only expel contaminants from a localized single source. Additionally, balanced ventilation provides filtered supply air whereas exhaust-only units bring in uncontrolled outdoor air that has seeped through cracks and openings. Uncontrolled air is not filtered air. Controlled supply air is preferable as contaminants are filtered out. “Balance is not just the wholistic look of one system, but balance is each individual room accordingly,” Agopian stated.Moving forward, it may be beneficial to examine ventilation from a load-based lens for each room. For example, the ACA Manual J looks at heat load from each room by classifying rooms into Category A (supply) rooms and Category B (exhaust) rooms, which could conceptually carry over to ventilation.Clearly, increased ventilation is an essential asset to any house. But what about the monster under the bed, the cost? Stay tuned and join for Episode Three of the series to find out more. Subscribe to the IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for the latest insights and news about the air quality in your home and office.

The spaces in which people live and work impact them. More specifically, the building materials and indoor air quality can negatively affect occupants. While regulations and codes take these into consideration, indoor air quality (IAQ) is still a challenge in the new well-sealed home.

The spaces in which people live and work impact them. More specifically, the building materials and indoor air quality can negatively affect occupants. While regulations and codes take these into consideration, indoor air quality (IAQ) is still a challenge in the new well-sealed home.Host ofIAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You hostTyler Kern spoke Nick Agopian, VP of Sales and Marketing at Renew Aireand Paul Raymer, Chief Investigator at Heyoka Solutions, on the topic. Raymer has a long career in the industry, including publishing books on ventilation, starting companies, and teaching on the subject. He's also used his knowledge to write science fiction novels.

The standards of energy efficiency and the construction of houses and structures have changed significantly. In fact, the company was a pioneer, led by a group of innovators, including Doug Steege. Steege joined IAQIQ host Tyler Kern and RenewAire VP of Sales and Marketing Nick Agopian to talk about his Passive House compliant home. Agopian, excited to hear from Steege, said, “He's an inspiration. He had a vision to trailblaze into an area no one else was. He started a revolution.”Steege always had a passion for energy efficiency. Before starting RenewAire, he was the housing technology coordinator for Wisconsin, attempting to build efficient buildings and make them airtight. However, airtight meant vapor and pollutants remained. “I heard about a ventilation and heat recovery product. So, I sent away for blueprints and built an air heat exchanger, putting in the first home we built.”Steege then described what a Passive House is. “It gets its name from free energy from the sun. Solar radiation is trapped, and thermal mass in the house moderates the heat build-up to store energy. Shading features also reduce the overheating.”A Passive House, built airtight, is energy-efficient. With such a tight envelope, there is the risk of having poor inside air quality because everything is sealed into the space. To prevent this, every Passive House should have an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), which dilutes the pollution and balances ventilation.The construction of his current home included those of a Passive House. In addition to solar energy, the shell of the home needed substantial insulation. “Our values in the walls are R30, and the roof is R100,” Steege explained.The home included more Passive House elements, such as windows with the most airtight sealing, triple glazed, and with low conductivity edge seals. Insulated window coverings were installed, and the exterior doors were triple gasket seals with an R-value of 18.Additionally, sealing all leaks in the home during the construction phase was necessary. The other elements included the ventilation system and electric solar panels. “We have enough panels to be off-grid,” Steege added. Agopian added, “Sealing the envelope is critical. Uncontrolled air coming in impacts thermal comfort and energy efficiency. If you have uncontrolled ventilation, that can be problematic to health, as well, which is why Doug installed a RenewAire ERV in his home and why they're essential for a Passive Home.”

The standards of energy efficiency and the construction of houses and structures have changed significantly. In fact, the company was a pioneer, led by a group of innovators, including Doug Steege. Steege joined IAQIQ host Tyler Kern and RenewAire VP of Sales and Marketing Nick Agopian to talk about his Passive House compliant home. Agopian, excited to hear from Steege, said, “He's an inspiration. He had a vision to trailblaze into an area no one else was. He started a revolution.”Steege always had a passion for energy efficiency. Before starting RenewAire, he was the housing technology coordinator for Wisconsin, attempting to build efficient buildings and make them airtight. However, airtight meant vapor and pollutants remained. “I heard about a ventilation and heat recovery product. So, I sent away for blueprints and built an air heat exchanger, putting in the first home we built.”Steege then described what a Passive House is. “It gets its name from free energy from the sun. Solar radiation is trapped, and thermal mass in the house moderates the heat build-up to store energy. Shading features also reduce the overheating.”A Passive House, built airtight, is energy-efficient. With such a tight envelope, there is the risk of having poor inside air quality because everything is sealed into the space. To prevent this, every Passive House should have an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), which dilutes the pollution and balances ventilation.The construction of his current home included those of a Passive House. In addition to solar energy, the shell of the home needed substantial insulation. “Our values in the walls are R30, and the roof is R100,” Steege explained.The home included more Passive House elements, such as windows with the most airtight sealing, triple glazed, and with low conductivity edge seals. Insulated window coverings were installed, and the exterior doors were triple gasket seals with an R-value of 18.Additionally, sealing all leaks in the home during the construction phase was necessary. The other elements included the ventilation system and electric solar panels. “We have enough panels to be off-grid,” Steege added. Agopian added, “Sealing the envelope is critical. Uncontrolled air coming in impacts thermal comfort and energy efficiency. If you have uncontrolled ventilation, that can be problematic to health, as well, which is why Doug installed a RenewAire ERV in his home and why they're essential for a Passive Home.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies and building owners to consider the air quality in their buildings. While the virus might not always be prevalent, air quality is now a top-of-mind issue and a major factor when it comes to occupant health and wellness. Because of this, building owners will have to improve factors such as ventilation.On this episode of IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You, Host Tyler Kern discussed building ratings and certifications with Nick Agopian, VP of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire, and Sarah Nugent, Sustainability Director at Steven Winter Associates. Steven Winter Associates provides research, consulting and advisory services to improve commercial, residential and multi-family-built environments for private and public sector clients. Nugent touched on three programs that set the standards and guidelines for building ratings and certifications: the Fitwel Viral Response Module from the Center for Active Design, GSA and the CDC; the IWBI WELL Health Safety Rating at International WELL Building Institute; and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program from the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC).These three programs were created because of the vacuum and new focus on occupant health and wellness, according to Nugent. The pandemic has caused a heightened focus on lingering air particles in indoor facilities. The worst air compounds, like viral diseases, cannot be detected by human senses. Agopian believes the world needs to become more resilient. “There's a lot of reevaluation, and when we look at minimum code, what does that mean? And if we maintain it, now we definitely have to entertain higher performing buildings that offer us a little more than whatever minimum code was,” said Agopian.When it comes to indoor air quality standards, customers will likely start choosing a place to visit, rent, etc. based on these certifications. One distinguishing factor will be ventilation standards—buildings can display their WELL Health Safety Rating to indicate how far above standard their facility is ventilated. According to Nugent, Steven Winters Associates emphasizes upgrading systems to increase ventilation efficiency, especially in older buildings. Listen to hear more about building rating systems and certifications created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies and building owners to consider the air quality in their buildings. While the virus might not always be prevalent, air quality is now a top-of-mind issue and a major factor when it comes to occupant health and wellness. Because of this, building owners will have to improve factors such as ventilation.On this episode of IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You, Host Tyler Kern discussed building ratings and certifications with Nick Agopian, VP of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire, and Sarah Nugent, Sustainability Director at Steven Winter Associates. Steven Winter Associates provides research, consulting and advisory services to improve commercial, residential and multi-family-built environments for private and public sector clients. Nugent touched on three programs that set the standards and guidelines for building ratings and certifications: the Fitwel Viral Response Module from the Center for Active Design, GSA and the CDC; the IWBI WELL Health Safety Rating at International WELL Building Institute; and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program from the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC).These three programs were created because of the vacuum and new focus on occupant health and wellness, according to Nugent. The pandemic has caused a heightened focus on lingering air particles in indoor facilities. The worst air compounds, like viral diseases, cannot be detected by human senses. Agopian believes the world needs to become more resilient. “There's a lot of reevaluation, and when we look at minimum code, what does that mean? And if we maintain it, now we definitely have to entertain higher performing buildings that offer us a little more than whatever minimum code was,” said Agopian.When it comes to indoor air quality standards, customers will likely start choosing a place to visit, rent, etc. based on these certifications. One distinguishing factor will be ventilation standards—buildings can display their WELL Health Safety Rating to indicate how far above standard their facility is ventilated. According to Nugent, Steven Winters Associates emphasizes upgrading systems to increase ventilation efficiency, especially in older buildings. Listen to hear more about building rating systems and certifications created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the Indoor Air Quality & You podcast, we've already discussed the role of energy recovery ventilation (ERV) in high performing, single-family homes, as well as the benefits of increased ventilation. In fact, in the wake of the pandemic, air quality is more critical than it's ever been.With that in mind, multi-family homes offer even more challenges. They have unique design considerations, including those around air quality, and air quality is a preeminent safety issue as residents carry concerns about contaminants and the spread of disease.Because of multiple inhabitants and the nature of shared spaces, the construction of these projects is evolving to focus more on high performance and strategies to help builders provide healthy and high-performing homes for residents.To learn more, host Tyler Kern welcomed Gayathri Vijayakumar, Principal Mechanical Engineer at Steven Winter Associates, and Nick Agopian, VP of Sales and Marketing for RenewAire, to this episode of the show.Overall, the most important concept in creating high performing, multi-family homes begins with a shared goal to do more than the bare minimum that construction codes require.Vijayakumar explained the Indoor airPLUS program, which was established by the EPA and is thematically similar to ENERGY STAR . “The program is prescriptive and [offers] a checklist of all the things for higher performance. First, the building must have ENERGY STAR standards, then layer on the indoor air quality elements,” Vijayakumar saidENERGY STAR standards relate to requirements for energy efficiency, insulation, air sealing and lighting efficiency for both single and multi-family homes, while Indoor airPLUS turns its attention to the layering of low-emitting materials, balanced ventilation requirements, radon levels, pest management and combustion appliance use regulations on top of those standards.These standards are more critical than ever, as Agopian noted that air quality is more on consumer radars since the pandemic. “We breathe in 31 pounds of air a day. Because of the pandemic, the quality of that air is concerning. Builders and developers are motivated to build healthier homes, because they can get more dollars per square foot.”What makes multi-family builds tricky, though, is the variety of air. “It's not just air from the outside. It's from neighbors and shared spaces,” Vijayakumar explained.One of the best ways to improve indoor air quality in multi-family homes is through energy recovery ventilation. For optimal quality, ERVs replace stale air and replenish it with fresh outside air, and they do it all while lowering energy costs and boosting energy efficiency.

The typical homeowner may believe that an energy-efficient home is a high-performing one, but that's actually not the case.According to Grace and Corbett Lunsford, the co-creators and hosts of TV show Home Diagnosis, energy efficiency is simply a byproduct of great home performance.In the second part of this Indoor Air Quality IQ podcast series, “What Most People Don't Know About Higher Performing-Homes,” they rejoin host Tyler Kern and show regular Nick Agopian of RenewAire to talk in greater depth about the role that energy efficiency and chemistry have in a healthy and high-performing home."High-performing homes have wonderful byproducts, and one of those byproducts is energy efficiency, but it's not the goal," Grace Lunsford said. "The ultimate, No. 1 thing is finding control and balance and tuning your home." The Lunsfords offered a simple, 1-2-3 look at the indoor chemistry and health of a home. No. 1 is chemicals, No. 2 is particles and No. 3 is microbes, all of which can have a negative effect on indoor air quality, particularly in combination with one another.To control those three aspects, homeowners can improve their indoor air quality with balanced ventilation via energy recovery (ERVs), dehumidification strategies, and powerful air filtration as potential ways to reduce those contaminants.In particular, ventilation is key for controlling those chemicals, particles and microbes. Installing an energy recovery ventilator can help to achieve this in a high-performing home.However, it's also important to remember that everything is about balance – instead of chasing one goal, like energy efficiency, chase a healthier home."People tend to think that if something's good, then more of that would be even better,” Corbett Lunsford said. “And, it turns out, because the home is a system, if you chase after energy efficiency … you are creating side effects." If you haven't listened to the first part of this podcast episode, make sure to do so to learn more about home performance. Additionally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for even more content on indoor air quality and the factors that impact it.

You understand how your body performs, and you probably know how your car does, too. But what about your home? Would you consider yourself well-versed in the dynamics that keep your home – and you – healthy?This isn't a topic that many people have thought about, but Corbett and Grace Lunsford have. Their TV show, Home Diagnosis, dives into home performance and how to increase the performance of your own home.In part one of this podcast series, you're introduced to the couple as they join host Tyler Kern and podcast regular Nick Agopian."Home performance really clicked with us, because you understand the performance of your body and you understand the performance of your car, yet we will spend a hundred times more on these giant houses, sometimes, without knowing the miles per gallon or the safety standards or how the home performs," Grace Lunsford said.Home performance can be viewed through the lens of a “4-3-2-1” approach, which Corbett defined for listeners. First, there are four key elements – heat flow, airflow and pressure, moisture, and air quality.Next, there are three categories of recommendations for solutions, air sealing, insulation and mechanical, two types of systems, enclosure and engine, and one key goal – controlling, balancing and tuning your home.Achieving a healthy home is a measurable goal. By testing the four elements as they relate to a unique system, you can monitor your progress. This testing gives you confidence in the value of your home and empowers you to recognize and address unintentional side effects.Listen to the second part of this series of Indoor Air Quality IQ for more on energy efficiency and the chemistry of a healthy home. And, if you liked this episode, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to get notified about the newest episodes when they're released.

Home building and energy codes have resulted in tight sealing methodologies – and you may not have even considered the impact that could have on the buildup of contaminants in the space.With indoor air quality now firmly in the spotlight, emphasis is being placed on the contaminants we produce when we cook, clean, sneeze or do any number of other household activities.However, without proper ventilation, modern codes and those tighter sealing methodologies trap those contaminants in the home, lowering overall air quality, which can cause adverse health and safety risks.On this episode of IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You!, Nick Agopian, John Saufferer and Tim O'Brien tackled how balanced ventilation with energy recovery can overcome that challenge.Simply using bathroom exhaust-only fans and kitchen hoods isn't enough to ventilate a whole home.“We create a whole other problem when we rely on outside air to come in from all these various holes and cracks and seams,” O'Brien continued. “When it's moving through, it's bringing in other particulates and other things that we don't want to come into the home.”Luckily, there's a solution.Balanced ventilation with energy recovery doesn't just offer a one-to-one exchange of contaminated indoor air with clean outdoor air. It dilutes contaminants within an indoor space and offers additional health benefits, as well.RenewAire is a believer in building it tight – but only if you ventilate it right. Listen to the entire episode to find out more.Subscribe to the IAQ IQ: Indoor Air Quality and You podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for the latest insights and news about the air quality in your home and office.

Over the years, companies have sacrificed proper building ventilation for increased energy savings by creating tighter building envelopes, investing in sealing technologies, and more.However, the coronavirus pandemic reinforced a basic idea in creating safer, healthier spaces: proper building ventilation is essential to the health of employees, and therefore, the community. But with this comes greater demands for ventilation systems, many of which now need to be updated to keep up with these changes. In this episode of Indoor Air Quality IQ, host Tyler Kern is joined by RenewAire's John Schilling and Nick Agopian, the company's Regional Sales Director and Vice President of Sales and Marketing, respectively. Nishant Kanapilly, the founder of Monaire, also joined the trio to discuss how business leaders can increase ventilation in their buildings while also decreasing ventilation energy costs. “In a post-COVID environment, increased ventilation is the solution to reducing the number of transmitted diseases,” Agopian said. “Now, we realize that ventilation is crucial for life, the physiological operation of the human body, and, now more than ever, safety indoors.” Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are the best way to rationalize increased ventilation while also maintaining the electrical profile of a building. “ERVs recover energy from the exhaust airstream and use it to pretreat incoming outside air – whether that air is cold, and we warm it up, or it's hot and humid, and we cool it and dehumidify it,” Schilling said. In transferring energy from air moving through the ERV, that energy is recovered and used to precondition incoming ventilation air, creating a “win-win” situation. That relationship also works to help ventilation systems handle an increased load of outside air, bumping up the ventilation rate tremendously. Kanapilly also touted ERVs' ability to lower energy spend on heating and cooling by, for a brand-new building, up to 65% and to offer outstanding ROI. “If you put money in an ERV, you're going to get back 70% return on your money,” he said. “[You make it back] in less than two years. … After it's paid back, then, for the next 15 years that this equipment is running, you are saving.” Subscribe to the IAQ IQ podcast and stay up to date on the latest news on all things indoor air quality.

A revolution is nothing without a solution. For indoor air quality (IAQ), dilution and filtration are two components of the ventilation equation. Nick Agopian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RenewAire, teamed up with Armin Rudd, Principal AB Systems, LLC, to add context to this IAQ IQ conversation. Agopian said ventilation and filtration try to complement each other to achieve good indoor air quality. Rudd said he starts the IAQ process with source control by local exhausts and removes the air contaminants at the point of generation. After that, Rudd said he employs whole dwelling ventilation, which utilizes dilution. “If you have a cooking source, an oven or a stovetop, you should be ventilating and removing all source contaminants before they diffuse within the structure,” Agopian said. Balanced ventilation strategies bring in outdoor air (supply air) and exhaust out stale, indoor air (room air), which is a much better solution than simply opening a window. Energy recovery solutions (ERVs) bring further benefits, helping to optimize energy usage by passively recovering otherwise-wasted energy to temper incoming outdoor air. There are also hybrid systems available, as well, and filtration can be used to enhance balanced ventilation. With the particles found in the air one of the leading concerns in IAQ, no matter what type of ventilation system is employed, it is critical to have a high-quality air filtration system. “A hybrid system is a supply ventilation system that would activate whenever the heating and cooling was called for by the thermostat,” Rudd said. “But then maybe use an exhaust strategy to fill in all the gaps when there is no heating and cooling; essentially supplementing that supply ventilation.” Balanced ventilation is the premier solution for controlling the spread of viruses like the novel coronavirus and driving better indoor air quality, which has notable benefits in terms of better overall health for occupants, cognitive improvement, elevated productivity and more. RenewAire's high-efficiency, static-plate enthalpy-core ERVs recover total energy and provide unmatched ease of use, reliability and savings. Indoor air quality matters – and RenewAire provides balanced ventilation strategies in producing that quality with a total package of ventilation.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), is on everyone's mind these days. With the COVID-19 pandemic raising concerns over the quality and safety of indoor air, it's an opportune time to get an insider's perspective on IAQ and what proper and/or increased ventilation can do to make an internal environment a safe one.Nick Agopian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for RenewAire, LLC, shared his IQ regarding IAQ.Agopian stressed the importance of ventilation in regulating IAQ. “When it comes to ventilating, you can't see it, you can't touch it, you can't smell it, and you don't know that it's actually happening in the background,” Agopian said. But ventilation is a necessity for good indoor air quality, and it's a process human have concerned themselves with and innovated upon through centuries. “The more air we bring indoors, the better it is for occupants.”Construction methodologies, codes and materials have changed over time. One hundred years ago, there were approximately 50 different materials used in construction. Fast forward to today, and Agopian said there are over 55,000 products used to build a building or a home.But while these new building methods and materials may provide more energy efficiency, they don't provide as much air exchange as past buildings. “So, we are essentially living in our own bio-effluence,” Apogian said. “Because we don't have that same level of air exchange that's occurring, mechanical ventilation solutions are needed.Bringing the spotlight to the pandemic, Apogian mentioned that many indoor home building codes do not consider the length of time families might be spending inside the home each day due to the pandemic.Is enough outside air getting into the house to accommodate multiple family members working and learning from home instead of at a workplace or school? The United States is the worst performing first nation in the world in terms of home ventilation, meaning the answer is likely no for many Americans.“These systems are now being challenged, and, if anything, people should be looking at code and the design of homes and saying, ‘I want a higher performing structure,'” Apogian said.