British Manufacturer Vent-Axia Wins at Prestigious CIBSE Awards

The Judges were impressed by the Sentinel Kinetic Advance’s ingenious use of very modern technology

Leading British ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia is celebrating winning ‘Energy Efficient Product or Innovation of the Year’ at the prestigious Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Building Performance Awards 2017. Scooping the award for its revolutionary Sentinel Kinetic Advance Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), the Sussex-based company received the accolade at Grosvenor House, Park Lane in London on Tuesday 7th February at an event that was attended by the biggest names in the industry.

Now in its 10th year, these respected awards recognise excellence in the built environment. This year over 750 people came to hear England International rugby star, Matt Dawson, announce the winners. The esteemed CIBSE Building Performance Awards recognise outstanding new and innovative products which significantly improve building performance. The awards focus on actual, measured performance, not design intent or performance specifications so only proven products are shortlisted and award winners are acknowledged as best in class.

Judged by a distinguished panel of industry leaders the ‘Energy Efficient Product or Innovation of the Year’ award recognises building services solutions that reduce the amount of energy used in buildings through the efficient use of energy by the innovation itself. Following a rigorous judging process the ground-breaking Sentinel Kinetic Advance was chosen as the winner of the award. The Judges were impressed by the Sentinel Kinetic Advance’s ingenious use of very modern technology, its ability to “deliver strong performance” as well as “ease of installation” and that internally it is made from all recycled materials.

“We are delighted that our innovative Sentinel Kinetic Advance MVHR has won the “Energy Efficient Product or Innovation of the Year’ award at the CIBSE Awards 2017. To be recognised by the industry in this manner, and in such important awards for the built environment, is a real honour” said Ian Mitchell, Product Marketing Manager – New Build Residential,. “At Vent-Axia we are committed to innovation and continuous development and the Advance really is a new breed of MVHR unit.”

With best in class performance and offering near silent, energy efficient and high pressure operation, Advance is perfect for care homes and student accommodation as well as New Build residential properties. It extracts warm, moist air from ‘wet’ rooms through ducting which passes through the heat exchanger before being exhausted outside. Fresh incoming air is preheated via the integral heat exchanger which recovers over 93% of the heat energy that would otherwise be wasted.

Designed for air-tight thermally efficient new build properties, the Advance is the first UK-manufactured web-enabled App-controlled MVHR unit, providing energy efficient ventilation and pioneering control. Featuring groundbreaking commissioning and control via the App, Advance encourages best practice and high performance through simplified commissioning, saving installers time on site. USB functionality also allows pre-commissioning, thus saving time on developments with same specification builds.

There are many other benefits that this new technology brings. Firstly a key specification driver is efficiency. The Advance tops the PCDB list as the best performing MVHR system in its class, boasting a specific fan power of 0.38W/l/w with 93% heat recovery and airflow of 100l/s at 150Pa, offering high pressure development. This new breed of MVHR is not only efficient, it is also extremely quiet with trickle settings up to 40% staying below 20dBA, achieving the Holy Grail of high efficiency and low sound levels.

Offering a range of features that improve indoor air quality (IAQ) the Advance features a unique and innovative free App which residents can download onto their smartphones to allow them to control their IAQ. Via the App residents can boost the unit and view efficiencies and temperatures. Filters up to F7 grade ensure that even buildings in heavily urbanised areas can filter out most impurities, including damaging PM2.5 particles. A filter check warning tells building occupiers via the App or email when filters need changing, thus helping to maintain the quality of incoming air.

Developed for modern thermally efficient buildings, Advance also features a revolutionary programmable summer bypass to ensure year-round thermal comfort. The summer bypass is pioneering since it is fully automatic and truly intelligent, a first. The summer bypass is set for both comfort temperature and minimum external temperature. These settings enable the controls to determine whether it is winter or summer allowing it to run without resident intervention.

For further cooling the Advance summer bypass has an evening purge feature that boosts early evening and then runs on a timer until about 10pm so there is no nuisance noise at night. Additional cooling is also available for periods of several days of high temperatures and warm nights. Here the Advance utilises a Night-Time Purge. This allows a building to be pre-cooled for the following day by taking advantage of cooler night-time temperatures.

For further information on all products and services offered by Vent-Axia telephone 0844 856 0590 or visit www.vent-axia.com. For further details visit on the CIBSE awards, visit www.cibse.org/building-performance-awards/2017-winners

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