CERV | Newell Instruments, Inc.

Conditioning Energy Recovery Ventilator

The new generation of energy efficient homes requires very little energy for comfort conditioning, however, a complex combination of actions are required for maintaining the highest levels of air quality and comfort in a house.

From our residential research activities, we recognized the need for a system that could coordinate and control the fresh air and comfort conditioning process requirements of super-efficient homes, and hence, we invented a new class of home conditioning system we call the CERV….Conditioning Energy Recovery Ventilator. Pronounced “serve”, the CERV is a system that is meant to serve the homeowner’s fresh air and comfort conditioning needs.

Imagine a system that knows when it is nice enough outside that it can “open” the windows. When it is not so nice outside, it “closes” your windows. You may be at work, sleeping, or maybe at home but not wanting to have to open/close windows each and every day. The CERV detects when outside air is “nice”, and maximizes fresh air flow into the house, but with the added advantage that it filters the fresh air and then delivers it to the living areas of the house, while purging and exhausting air from the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry areas of the house. When outside air is not so nice, which is most of the time, the CERV continues bringing in fresh air at a level required by the ASHRAE 62.2 ventilation standard for residences, ensuring high quality air in the house at all times.

The CERV “conditions” the fresh air before delivering it to the house. If the air is too cool, it is efficiently heated. If the air is too warm or too humid, the air is cooled and dehumidified. Additionally, the CERV determines whether or not “energy recovery” is beneficial. Energy recovery is an exchange of energy between the incoming fresh air and outgoing stale air. Energy exchange between the exhaust air and fresh air streams is not always desirable. That is, sometimes fresh air is best “as is” without exchanging energy with the stale exhaust air. This is especially true during the “swing” seasons, spring and fall, when you want fresh air just as it is.

Newell Instruments’ CERV is a modular system. The “brains” of the system monitors incoming and outgoing air streams, and determines where each air stream should be directed. “Conditioning” modules contain hermetically sealed heat pump units that are combined as needed for a given location and house. For example, a 1000sq ft, super-insulated house may only require one conditioning box in the midwest, while a 2000sq ft house with similar design characteristics may need two conditioning modules. Because the lifestyle of the occupants and their use of appliances significantly impacts the comfort conditioning system requirements of high performance houses, the number of conditioning modules can be adjusted as needed for proper comfort.

The additional components added to the CERV system are fan modules and auxiliary heat module that are sized according to the house load requirements. As a hermetically sealed heat pump system, there are no refrigerant connections or need for refrigeration technicians to install the unit. The modules are installed, ducts are connected to the modules and house ventilation ducts, and the system’s electrical connections are completed.

Our cradle-to-cradle design philosophy results in a system whose modules we want to reclaim in the future. Because the CERV is fully self-contained and built with the highest quality components, it is whisper quiet and can be hidden most anywhere within the house. An additional benefit of our self-contained modular system is the elimination of noisy outside fan units disturbing your outside activities.

The CERV has been in development for over two years with extensive system and component testing in our laboratory to ensure operation under the most difficult conditions. Our Equinox House project provides more information on the CERV. We are now progressing to UL certification of the CERV and will have it available in the near future. Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive announcements regarding its development process.