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Ventilation

Ventilation service and maintenance consists of tests, checks, calibration and balancing of ventilation systems to confirm their correct and efficient operation. Only trained and competent service engineers should carry out service and maintenance work on ventilation systems, due to their complexity, for the health and welfare reasons and business critical importance.

Ventilation systems

Ventilation systems are generally broken into mechanical ventilation and natural ventilation.

Mechanical ventilation

Mechanical ventilation provides clean air inside a building through a ducting system, aided by mechanical means, such as disposable filters and fans.

Natural ventilation

Natural ventilation is the air which enters a building without any mechanical assistance – often through doors, windows and vents. Natural ventilation can be found in nearly every building, while mechanical ventilation is mainly found in buildings in a built-up area; buildings of high occupancy or where required in industrial settings.

Either one or a combination of both mechanical and natural ventilation might be required to satisfy indoor room air quality, depending on the room or building and its function.

Mechanical ventilation service and maintenance

Ventilation servicing is carried out in accordance with following requirements:

  • The original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) specification i.e. their recommendations.
  • Your own business specific requirements.
  • Specific environmental factors, such as the location of a building – a location in a built-up area could dictate more frequent servicing. Likewise, the purpose of the building dictates the frequency of servicing, i.e. a hospital, data centre or clean room setting would require more frequent servicing than a typical office or school.
  • The advice from your maintenance provider considering ventilation rates/air changes per hour based on building occupancy and uses.
  • Current health and safety regulations or guidelines, such as those concerning the safety of staff in public health emergencies such as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A risk assessment should be drawn up to consider safety factors.

Servicing should take place between two and four times per year in a commercial building – depending on specifications, environmental factors, advice, health guidelines and risk assessments.

The process of servicing a mechanical ventilation system is known as planned preventative maintenance (PPM).

Therefore, PPM is a risk averse measure, ensuring uptime of operation-critical systems in accordance with a breadth of requirements.

Mechanical ventilation PPM

Mechanical ventilation service checks include: verification of efficient operation; health and safety inspections; examination of critical components; examination for wear and tear signs; appropriate discharges; inspection of electrical connections and analysis of operation parameters, such as, temperatures, pressures, noises and vibrations.

PPM seeks to service ventilation as a part of the overall heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. This ensures that ventilation systems are acting in harmony and not competing against heating and air conditioning systems, which can sometimes occur.

Mechanical ventilation servicing can take place on a variety of different units, such as: air handling units (AHU); heat recovery ventilation (HRV) units; fan coil units, variable air volume (VAV) units and ventilation fans. Depending on the system, servicing will also have to take place on other connected installations within the system, such as, boilers, chillers and the building energy management system (BEMS). These ancillary systems may feed and control mechanical ventilation systems.

Mechanical ventilation service in buildings

Ventilation is important in a building because it creates an airflow, introducing fresh air into a building and helping to remove bad odours and smells. When fresh air enters a building, it is filtered through disposable filters and then conditioned. These filters help to trap dust and dirt, microbiological particles and contaminates. Then after the air is conditioned to temperature, it enters the desired local space to refreshing the room’s air and help dilute and remove any airborne pollutants. Stale air is removed via a grille, creating an airflow in the local space. This reduces the risk of occupants getting sick or becoming infected by airborne viruses, such as COVID-19. However, in some ventilation systems, the stale air is recycled and mixed with the incoming fresh air, saving on energy costs, but incurring a health penalty for building occupants.

Damp and mould can appear within buildings. Mechanical ventilation does not remove damp or kill mould, but it is part of the solution to its prevention and removal. Damp is usually caused by contaminates in the air which settles on surfaces, due to a lack of ventilation.