Over the past two years, Newell Instruments has invested significant efforts to develop a multi-functioned comfort conditioning system, called the CERV (Conditioning Energy Recovery Ventilator, pronounced “serve”, it is meant to serve You!). While super efficient homes do not need large capacity heating or cooling systems, these homes require an intelligent, nimble system that can adjust to changes in comfort conditions. A house such as Equinox House is more dependent on the things you do rather than the weather outside. If someone is cooking spaghetti while someone else is taking a shower, and a third person is doing Zoomba, the humidity will dominate rather than temperature. If you are sitting quietly reading a book, moisture impacts will be smaller.
In order to condition the increasing number of super-performing homes, a new type of conditioning system is needed, and hence our activities to develop the CERV. Currently, some combination of ERV/HRV (energy recovery ventilator/heat recovery ventilator), cooling system, heating system, and dehumidification system must be patched together to keep air fresh and people comfortable. With the development of the CERV’s modular approach, you add one, two or three conditioning boxes (depending on the size of the house, occupant activities, and location; approximately 1 conditioning box per 1000 square feet of super-insulated/super-sealed house) coupled to the “brains” of the system that directs air flows as needed. The CERV provides fresh, filtered air to the house 24 hours per day, following ASHRAE’s residential ventilation air standard 62.2 (ASHRAE is the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers; they set the standards for many of the codes used by building inspectors).
See the section on air quality to learn how the CERV maintains the air at a high quality level in the Equinox House and understand why “fresh air” in conventional homes is not so fresh and not so clean.
The attached picture shows the CERV located in the attic space of Equinox House. A better view of the CERV in Equinox House is shown in the Google Sketchup picture with the roof removed from Equinox House. A close up view of the CERV is also included.
The CERV is multi-functioned and manages the fresh air duties and energy recovery operation of an ERV and HRV, coupled with the heating, cooling and dehumidification of furnaces, air conditioners and dehumidifiers. During the “swing seasons” (spring and fall) the energy recovery operations of an ERV and HRV are undesirable in cooler climates. The CERV chooses whether or not energy recovery is beneficial, and disengages the energy recovery function when needed. For example, on a cool summer evening, one would like to bring the cool air into a house directly rather than having it heated by the outgoing house exhaust air. This is the equivalent of opening your windows, except the CERV does this when you are sleeping, working or just don’t feel like messing with opening and closing windows. The CERV ”closes” the windows when outdoor air conditions are not good, returning to its standard fresh air conditioning mode with energy recovery. And unlike ”fresh air” from windows, the CERV has the added benefit of filtering its fresh air.
The CERV has been developed with a “cradle-to-cradle” philosophy. We want the unit back at the end of its useful lifetime so we can recycle its refrigerant, lubricant and “technical” materials. The CERV is an integral, fully sealed heat pump system that does not require a refrigeration technician to install, evacuate, and charge the refrigerant system as required by today’s residential heat pump and air conditioning systems. Similar to your refrigerator, the CERV should never leak refrigerant because of its hermetically sealed system.
Complementing the CERV is Newell Instruments’ new heat pump water heater unit (HPWH). The NI heat pump water heater, also shown in the Sketchup model view of Equinox House attic space, is an important component of the overall house conditioning system. The heat pump water heater cools and dehumidifies the house while using the energy extracted from the house heat and moisture to warm your shower water. In a symbiotic manner, more people in a house require more hot water, and the occupants’ metabolism is a source of energy for the heat pump water heater. The occupants expel their metabolic heat and moisture into the house, which in turn, is transferred by the heat pump water heater as energy for their hot water. Read more about heat pump water heaters in our September 2010 article in Appliance Design, and in our feature section on heat pump water heaters. Whether you build a super-efficient home or not, heat pump water heaters will become a part of your future.
So, can you obtain a CERV? Almost, but not quite yet. We are undergoing safety certification required by the International Residential Code so that it can be installed in your house and pass building inspections! Follow our website for updates on our progress.
