Sentinel demand ventilation provides the perfect partner to Vent-Axia's extensive range of Air Management Solutions to manage indoor air quality, whether it needs to be heated, cooled and moved through a room.

The range of heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions are more than hardware, they must include controls and provide the required 'installed' building performance to meet the needs of the system. This is where Vent-Axia's dedicated commercial project team is able to provide HEVAC selection advice, installation guidance and project management including site delivery and vital after sales support.

With elemental design disappearing in favour of a 'whole building' philosophy, costing information, maintenance scheduling and advice on component replacement are all essential parts of the project in addition to the capital investment. Vent-Axia is able to draw on 70 years of industry experience, millions of successful installations and use of the latest fan selection software to provide advice and select the right solution for each application.

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, and as a result the latest edition of the Buildings Regulations Documents Part L and F, effective 6th April 2006, are recognizing the need for a healthier working environment in both new and refurbished commercial buildings.

The need to save energy whilst using effective ventilation is linked to the requirements of the EPBD to provide energy certification and measure the energy performance of commercial buildings in terms of carbon dioxide emissions using the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM). Additionally with ease of access and maintenance of boilers and air conditioning systems also key requirements of the EPBD, changes have been made to Buildings Regulations Part L to reflect these.

The new Part L 2006 edition (L2 for non-dwellings), states 'Reasonable provision shall be made for the conservation of fuel and power in buildings by :' ... 'providing and commissioning energy efficient fixed building services with effective controls.'

The new document guiding the conservation of fuel and power in new buildings other than dwellings states ; 'the system should be capable of achieving a specific fan power at 25% of design flow rate no greater than that achieved at 100% design flow rate. Reasonable provision for ventilation system fans rated at more than 1100W would be to equip them with variable speed drives.'

The specific performance limits of the system are detailed in the Non-domestic Heating, Cooling and Ventilation Compliance Guide including energy efficient performance and effective control systems.

The new document guiding the conservation of fuel and power in existing buildings other than dwellings requires that 'new HVAC systems are provided with appropriate controls to achieve reasonable standards of energy efficiency.' 'The system should be capable of achieving a specific fan power at 25% of design flow rate which is no greater than that achieved at 100% design flow rate. In order to aid commissioning and to provide flexibility for future changes of use, reasonable provision would be to equip with variable speed drives those fans that are rated at more than 1100W and which form part of the environmental control system(s).'

The specific performance limits of the system are detailed in the Non-domestic Heating, Cooling and Ventilation Compliance Guide including energy efficient performance and effective control systems.

In the new Part F 2006 edition, Section 2, ‘Buildings other than Dwellings’ highlights the requirements of Natural Ventilation systems and Mechanical Ventilation, specifying fresh air ventilation rate for air supply to offices (10 l/s per person) in Table 2.1b and specific extract ventilation rates for rooms including those with photocopiers and printers, food preparation and sanitary areas, outlined in Table 2.1a. Additional information for specific buildings are held in Tables 2.2 and 2.3.

The message from these regulations is that ventilation systems should use energy efficient technology with effective controls to monitor the performance of the system, whilst providing airflow rates required for a healthy working environment.

The Sentinel system is designed with these requirements in mind, drawing a low specific fan power whilst offering close system control.