Indoor Air – Health and Comfort

We develop and evaluate energy-efficient ventilation concepts using prototypes or accompany this process using simulations and flow simulations.

For residential and office buildings, we are primarily concerned with the influence of indoor air quality on the health and comfort of room users. As part of various research projects such as LowEx – Existing Commercial Buildings, RetroKit, FIHLS, HEAVEN, Fenstermaschine I & II or AEGIR, our focus has always been on ventilation solutions, which are particularly important in the context of renovating and refurbishing existing buildings. For this purpose, the aspects of air quality, temperature and humidity as well as their spatial distribution must be combined with efficient heat recovery concepts and suitable air flow management. Energy aspects are taken into account here, as are comfort, acoustics and user behavior.

Based on simulations and experimental characterization, we evaluate energy requirements and indoor air quality at various levels. This enables us to develop and analyze device concepts or subcomponents such as distribution systems or new types of heat exchangers in a way that is close to the application. The integration of the necessary components into the façade as part of a (serial) refurbishment is one of our main focuses.

Furthermore, we also transfer our experience from the residential and office building sector to other technical building services applications using our methodological expertise in the field of simulation. For example, in addition to ventilation units, we also simulate ventilation systems for commercial and industrial applications. We also analyse and optimize the flow situation and air exchange in production environments with clean and dry room requirements, for example in collaboration with colleagues from battery cell development.