Innovative ventilation designs win passive house component award

First prize has been awarded to a concept by the Austrian manufacturer Pichler, while a joint second prize goes to the Dutch company Vaventis and the Italian firm Michael Tribus Architecture. The presentation of the awards will take place at the 20th International Passive House Conference, which will be held on 22 and 23 April in Darmstadt, Germany.

The jury for the award assessed entrants for a compact duct network, low cost, flexible installation solutions, and life cycle cost. The winning solution by J. Pichler GmbH impressed the judges in how it was designed. According to the institute, putting the device at the centre of the building allows excellent access for maintenance work, while in addition, installation is facilitated by prefabricated component solutions, such as a combined unit consisting of a silencer, volume flow controller and distribution box.

Meanwhile, with a very narrow device and easy installation, Vaventis BV achieved a good rating particularly in the ‘suitability for step-by-step retrofitting’ category, and Tribus Architecture’s design included a very compact duct network, as positioning the device near the exterior wall reduced external air and exhaust air ducts to a minimum.

"In order to supply the growing retrofitting market with high quality energy efficient ventilation systems, cost-effective solutions in particular are very much in demand," said Dr Wolfgang Feist, director of the Passive House Institute. "The winning concepts demonstrate in an exemplary fashion how this can work.”

Details on the winners of the Component Award 2016 will be presented by Kristin Bräunlich, ventilation expert at the international Passive House Institute, at the conference in Darmstadt. Many of the manufacturers who participated in the competition with innovative solutions will also present their products in Darmstadt during the specialists' exhibition which will take place on 22 and 23 April in parallel with the International Passive House Conference. A total of ten ventilation solutions were submitted for the award.