Presenter Bio: Patrick Nielsen
Patrick Nielsen is the Global Technical Products Manager for Broan, a leading manufacturer of residential ventilation solutions. Patrick has 20 years of experience with Broan including roles in product development where he used his engineering background to launch a wide range of innovative ventilation products to solve a variety of IAQ and customer challenges. More recently his focus has been tracking industry trends, codes and standards and projecting longer-term product needs/opportunities. He is chair of the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) Board of Directors, chair of their Codes and Standards committee and is active in multiple other committees addressing industry issues. Patrick is also a member of IAQA, ASHRAE and EEBA.
Presentation Description:
The continuing effort to build dwellings that are extremely airtight and energy efficient is increasingly leading to concerns regarding insufficient ventilation and thus compromised indoor air quality, especially for those with respiratory issues such as asthma. Many homes now lack enough “natural” ventilation – that is holes in the building envelope from leaky doors, windows and other openings - that can be a source of fresh air. While on-demand local bathroom and kitchen ventilation is important, the clear answer for both an efficient and more importantly healthy home is whole home ventilation. Almost half of all states have now adopted codes requiring it in new construction. Conversely, while many older leakier homes may be able to meet minimum ventilation standards relying on infiltration alone, the source of ventilation air is uncontrolled and can lead to excess pollutant entry from outdoors. This session will begin with a review of ventilation basics including the latest trends and best practices in new construction and retrofits followed by a summary of recently-conducted research results involving 40 homes with asthmatic adults and three different whole home ventilation approaches – exhaust, supply and balanced with recovery (ERVs).