Climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, resource depletion, those are all effects of the environmental issue, and that we necessarily need to minimize to preserve the planet.
The environmental issue we are facing is primarily caused by human activity, and the way we build is part of the cause.
The construction sector contributes to air pollution and climatic change, not only with mere construction and the use of construction materials. We also need to understand that the water, the energy, and all the resources used every day in those buildings do affect the environment, making the building sector a major contributor to global warming. In fact, it is responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of the CO2 emissions in the EU.
In this context, renovating the existing building stock to a more sustainable level is a key priority, especially if we have as a goal the sector's decarbonization within 2050 with the European Green Deal.
The importance HVAC systems have in the decarbonization of the building stock
HVAC systems can have a very relevant role in the decarbonization process. In fact, space conditioning is a major contributor to buildings energy consumptions – roughly 80% – then to global warming.
This means that part of the retrofitting of the building stock need to involve the upgrade of HVAC systems, which besides cooling and heating systems, also include ventilation systems – very important to ensure air exchange with no downside on an insulation perspective.
Mechanical Ventilation systems are in general technical solutions that need to be considered not only to ensure higher energy efficiency of the building, but also to guarantee the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) standards needed in a heathy environment for occupants.
Ventilation and IEQ solutions for existing buildings’ renovation
Indoor environmental quality is an increasingly important aspect in renovation projects, which, besides energy efficiency and reduced direct Co2 emissions, growingly seek occupants’ well-being.
Mechanical ventilation is a great contribution to environmental quality in indoor environments, ensuring indoor air quality (IAQ).
Read more here about the importance of indoor air quality
While almost being a standard in Northern European countries, where buildings are usually designed to be thermally insulated and minimize energy consumptions, mechanical ventilation is not present in a still too large portion of the European building stock.
That is partially because most of the existing buildings (schools, public offices, light-commercial buildings, or even residential buildings), built decades ago, not only do not have ventilation systems, but cannot accommodate machines’ installation for structural reasons.
Technology is constantly evolving, though, and the air-conditioning sector is now able to offer compact enough solutions to make installation in existing buildings possible and easy.
The Daikin Modular T Series
The Daikin Modular T Series aims at giving customers the possibility to upgrade their building with a modern all-in-one system, able to provide ventilation, cooling, heating and dehumidification, finally helping to raise indoor air quality levels in existing buildings and make them a healthy environment for occupant.
Available in five different sizes, with an air flow range from 200 m3/h up to more than 4000 m3/h, the Daikin Modular T is a de-centralized ventilation solution for diverse applications including schools, offices, gyms, shops.
Among the main features the Modular – T includes:
- Air purity guaranteed, thanks to the three separate stages of filtration ensuring a safe and healthy environment.
- Plug and play connection, together with the DX Coil enables combination with VRV or ERQ condensing units to provide a complete fresh air solution, unique to Daikin.
- An integral mixing damper to help optimize consumption to reduce running costs.
Together with a comprehensive choice of accessories, these features make the Modular T one of the most complete and compact Air Handling Units (AHU) ranges on the market.
The minimal footprint is one of the defining characteristics of the new Modular T unit. With a maximum depth of 890 mm for the largest model, installation has never been simpler. Other sizes in the range are equally compact at 790 mm, while the smallest unit (size 03) is only 550mm deep. In addition, larger models are supplied in sections for fast, easy transportation and handling.
Another important feature of this solution is the possibility for the Daikin Modular T to directly connect with the Daikin IEQ Sensor, thus making a full package solution able to make indoor environments healthier for people to live.
This integration allows the Daikin IEQ Sensor – differently from other environmental sensors in the market – to actively use the date gathered so the settings in the Modular T AHU can be automatically adjusted. This allows to actively improve environmental parameters such as VOC, CO2, PM 10, and PM 2.5 levels, changing temperature, and relative humidity values, adjusting them to create a healthier environment.
The Daikin IEQ Sensor
The IEQ Sensor is an Indoor Environmental and Air Quality sensor able to track and monitor indoor conditions through a set of parameters measurements, so facility managers can have a clear idea of the Indoor Air Quality status in the building they manage.
Besides measuring Indoor air Quality, the IEQ Sensor also measures environmental quality and comfort, plus electromagnetic pollution through parameters related to noise and light, for instance, which also affect peoples’ well-being.
The IEQ Sensor by Daikin guarantees stand-alone installation and has 12 embedded different sensor that monitors 15 different parameters. It connects to the WiFi network, can be easily configured through a dedicated configuration app and can be integrated to Daikin on Site – Daikin’s remote monitoring and smart maintenance solution.
Once installed, the IEQ Sensor can track values related to Indoor Air and Environmental comfort, transmitting them to Caelum – Daikin’s Indoor Air and Environmental Quality monitoring platform, which allows to easily see the status of IAQ and IEQ where sensors are installed. But it does not stop with that, the web platform Caelum also allows to easily generate report and video wall real time monitoring. Another feature, then, is the possibility to set a notification system when thresholds on specific parameters are exceeded. In this way the system is able to send an alert message when there is a risk for deterioration of the indoor air and environmental quality levels set.
Are you interested in Daikin solutions for mechanical ventilation and indoor air quality? Then, get in touch using the form below!