3 ms·
What he's suggesting is an ERV or HRV. You still get air exchange, as much as you want, but now you're passing that air through a heat exchanger and a "humidity
by MertsA 6y ago
What he's suggesting is an ERV or HRV. You still get air exchange, as much as you want, but now you're passing that air through a heat exchanger and a "humidity exchanger" so you're not wasting all of that energy to condition that air. Another big benefit, now you don't have that moist outside air passing through fiberglass insulation batts in the walls working like growth media for mold.
As far as VOCs, you can crank up the air exchange to something on par with what a leaky building would do naturally. Even if you didn't, VOC off gassing should be basically the same rate. It's not going to accumulate enough in the air to substantially change the amount slowly coming out of paint, carpet, drywall, etc. If the air exchange rate was e.g. half then that should almost double the VOCs in the air.
- ggm 6y agoI would hope it's an exponential drop off, and you could even wedge doors open and drive ahead of things and then go back into a more passive house fully sealed state.
- MertsA 6y agoThat's not going to get it to come out of the material faster, that'll just reduce the amount in the air. You're still stuck waiting for it to permeate out of paint, carpet, adhesives, etc. You could increase ventilation to get the VOCs in the air to an acceptable level faster, but you're not substantially increasing the rate at which it's coming out of the materials.