Jun 14 2010
REHAU offers the REHAU ECOAIR System that takes advantage of earth’s heat energy. The ECOAIR system utilizes the ground heat energy to pre-warm the fresh air entering an indoor ventilation system of a house up to 9°C during the winter months and cools the air up to 16°C during the summer months. The air is made to pass through the underground pipes for heating or cooling purposes and the system also filters the fresh air and reduces the relative humidity.
The air inlet tower incorporated in the system draws fresh air from outside and the drawn air is heated or cooled by utilizing geothermal energy. The fan used for the purpose pushes the air into air ducts and distributes fresh air to the rooms. The used air is pushed out by utilizing exhaust fans. The REHAU ECOAIR System offered by REHAU utilizes condensate drainage and an inlet air filtration system to prevent microbial growth. To further stop the microbial growth Agion Antimicrobial Silver ions are implanted over the inner exposed layer of thick walled PVC pipes. For the purpose of designing the system various parameters such as required air charge rate, volume of the building, type of pipe layout, depth of ground water level, soil and climatic conditions and pipe laying depth are considered.
The pipes can be easily configured to meet the heating or cooling requirements of a building. To cover a floor area of 100-150 m² and a building volume of 300 m³, this system requires 30 m of 200 mm diameter PVC pipe. The estimated volume flow is 300 m³ x 0.5/h = 150 m³/h and saves up to 1,300 kWh/year. The pipes can be easily serviced utilizing standard pipe cleaning equipments.
Source: http://na.rehau.com