EPBD: INSPECTION OF STAND-ALONE VENTILATION SYSTEMS

Article 19a EPBD lays down that "The Commission shall, before 2020, conclude a feasibility study clarifying the possibilities and timeline to introduce the inspection of stand-alone ventilation systems ...". In June, EPF attended the first Stakeholder Meeting with the usual 'stakeholder' balance: two user/payers EPF and UIPI)) and twenty-eight companies or associations of companies selling ventilation.

From the presentations of reports from the Irish Department of Housing and a French government agency (www.cerema.fr), and from the consultant's survey, it would seem that research on residential buildings points to seriously poor results for ventilation systems in terms of IAQ, energy efficiency and noise throughout the Union with the exception of Sweden, which has mandatory inspection both at installation and during the lifetime of the systems (outside Sweden there is very little regulation or national standards, just guidance, mostly for inspection by installers).

Asked whether it would not be sufficient to combine inspection with maintenance, the answer was that for instance, in France, 50% of newly installed ventilation systems are faulty. The Irish official pointed to the solution in the new Irish validation system:the developer can't sell the new building until the ventilation system has been inspected and approved. Ventilation systems also have to be installed, inspected and approved in buildings undergoing major renovation.

The French official announced a government White Book on compulsory certification and a national protocol for residential ventilation system measurement including the maximum permissible error of the measuring device (http://www.promevent.fr/publications.php), but that soufflé sunk a little when she said there are 99 qualified testers (French population: 67 million) "but we'll get more inspectors once it's mandatory!"

It soon became clear that qualified testers are rare everywhere, so the conversation turned to owner self-inspection. When doubts were raised about a home owner's qualifications for this, there was a surreal exchange about "putting a paper in front of the vent to see if it moves" or "looking inside for obstruction" until the group finally concluded that building managers could handle this better.

Full report under EPF19-46 OF 26.06.2019