Ventilation Systems
This section discusses
The need
for ventilation in a home
Ventilation is the process
of removing stale indoor air and replacing it with fresh air from the outside.
This two-way air flow is necessary to remove indoor pollutants and to provide
occupants of the house with a healthy indoor environment.
Houses built in Manitoba
prior to the 1980's generally did not focus significant efforts on building an
airtight building envelope. When the wind blew outside, fresh air was easily pushed
into the house through electrical receptacles, cracks, under baseboards, and through
and around windows… to provide natural ventilation. These homes had little
need for mechanical ventilation.
 While
providing an ample supply of fresh air for occupants, unfortunately this method
of ventilation wasted a lot of energy. Because of the lack of control on the amount
of ventilation, houses were often overventilated. All that extra infiltrated air
had to be heated in the winter and many times made for a uncomfortable, drafty,
dry house in a typical Manitoba winter.
Energy conservation efforts
from the early 1980's to date have addressed those energy wasting overventilation
problems by building houses that have become progressively more and more airtight
by sealing off most potential areas for exterior air to enter, leave, and ventilate
a house. Living in an airtight house is like living in a big sealed up plastic
bag. All pollutants generated within that bag, such as humidity, chemical off
gassing, and smells… stay in the house to be breathed in by occupants making
for an unhealthy house. This is why the Manitoba Building Code mandates that at
least a simple mechanical ventilation system be installed in all homes. R-2000
Homes go beyond code and lead the way with requiring the installation of a heat
recovery mechanical ventilation system.
By providing an R-2000 tested
airtight building envelope and bringing in the required fresh ventilation air
at one location through a heat recover ventilator, you have the ability to control
the amount of ventilation air brought in to match the lifestyle requirements of
your family. Particulates are filtered out of the air before entering your home.
Heat is reclaimed from exhaust air to preheat the incoming fresh air and that
fresh air is evenly distributed to all rooms in the house. Any concentrations
of interior air pollutants such as moisture, carbon dioxide, or formaldehyde…
are kept to low levels.
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