Development of an intelligent envelope system with energy recovery ventilation for passive dehumidification in summer and solar collection in winter

Abstract

With the aim of establishing a zero-energy housing (ZEH), an intelligent envelope system composed of a passive dehumidification and solar collection system (PDSC system) based on thermodynamic energy theory and an energy recovery ventilation (ERV) unit has been developed, abbreviated as PSE (PDSC & ERV) system, which can be expected to control the indoor hygrothermal environment by using renewable energy further to reduce the heating and cooling demand for the HVAC system. In this study, the measurement experiments were conducted in a wooden house equipped with a PSE system, and the temperature and humidity distributions in the rooms were assessed using thermohygrometer sensors. The field comparison experiments for the three systems (exhaust-only ventilation system, ERV system, and PSE system) were performed separately under various meteorological conditions in summer and winter. The measurement results in summer showed that the PSE system has a significant dehumidification effect compared to the exhaust-only and ERV-only ventilation systems and could effectively reduce the latent heat load caused by ventilation. The measurement results in winter indicated that the PSE system has the effect of heat collection and humidity control as well as reducing the sensible heat load originating from ventilation.