Bizarre Ventilation System Design: Zehnder ERV Layout by Licensed Mechanical Engineer

Let's dive into the details on a licensed engineer's ventilation design for a new home. Thanks to my Hungarian pal Szabi Fekete, Zehnder America (www.zehnderamerica.com/) for lending his wide technical expertise on this.
Check out my deep dive into Ventilation Design & Installation: buildingperformanceworkshop.c...

[@johnhaller5851]

The Stud Pack channel is building a house, which they are trying to make tight. They put a huge exhaust fan in the bathroom, with no makeup air. Right now, this is just a second floor over the garage, so probably won't get used a lot after they build the main house. They did put in an ERV, but it didn't seem to be well placed They did do one collab with Matt Resinger on windows. They could really use a collab with you describing what they did wrong on the garage living space, and how to fix it for the main house. But, they didn't have time to read all the comments. Peehaps if you reached out to Matt, he would connect you two. They would be another good example of a bad design for the part of the project they are doing.

[@juliancate7089]

Stud Pack are a great group and fun to watch, but I would not want them building my home without GC to supervise.

[@l0gic23]

Can we get an equivalent video with a house done right?

[@brickhousedesignbuild5760]

Would be interesting to hear the engineer’s thoughts on this. We need a response video😂

[@trickstothetrades1801]

Love the design breakdowns of do’s and don’ts very helpful. Thanks

[@dosadoodle]

This is crazy that a professional team did this with a Zehnder system, because Zehnder provides room-by-room supply/extract design details as part of buying their system. I don't know why the installers felt compelled to throw that plan out the window.

[@machickman4041]

Awesome video!! Please provide more informative videos like this!!

[@D2O2]

Curious if you discussed this with the engineering firm and what they had to say regarding the details that you pointed out?

[@ricsoares8169]

These two guys are doing God's work.

[@chriscermak3188]

Excellent Corbett.

[@lukemorton5196]

How did the engineer respond to your comments and observations?

[@TomLap-qd6xc]

Always very informative! Have you heard of the CERV from Build Equinox?? Would love a review or opinion on them.

[@TomLap-qd6xc]

FYI: they claim their unit can handle kitchen exhaust (CERV by Build Equinox)

[@tweake7175]

Did i hear that right, 0.46ach ventilation rate. I know quite a few that run 0.5.

[@gabrielfarrar11]

Great video Corbett! Do you see any issue with a broan AI erv using the zehnder distribution system?

[@HomePerformance]

Yes, I believe they’re not meant to run at high static pressures.

[@JoshSmith-vm6nx]

​@@HomePerformance is Zehnder functioning at high static pressure? I know they're small tubes that are used in other high velocity systems, but with the low flow rates I thought static pressure wasn't very high?

[@ryansoo4000]

Hello. There's a recent video from the Green Home Institute you might find interesting called "What's Up With the Taylorville High, Net Zero Pretty Good House Student Build" that features the consulting work of Build Equinox on the HVAC design. They mention that they use their ZEROs free to use house design software. Have you heard of it before? The lecturer also mentions at minute 45:30 that by using today's inverter-drive speed control heat pumps you can use two 1 ton heat pumps running at 50% capacity and they will be 20-30% more efficient than one 1 ton heat pump running at 100% capacity. Is that true?

[@tweake7175]

in theory kinda true, but in reality no. the dual system would basically have bigger coils and airflow, which can lead to higher efficiency. however if you install 2 ton into a space meant for 1 ton, then you will be grossly oversized which will make it very inefficient in real world conditions. some manufactures make units with oversized coils to perform better in colder conditions, but they cost more. hope that helps.

[@ryansoo4000]

Hi Corbett. If people send you the names of other videos that are related to what you are teaching, do you actually view them? I saw an interesting video from KZbinr Healthy Home Guide called "Most Hepa Purifiers Are a Scam (There's a Better Option)" and he gave a lot of great scientific information on how a DIY Corsi-Rosenthal box fan filter is better at removing particulate matter than a Hepa filter - even for wildfire smoke. He also features a company that makes inexpensive box filters that are even more effective than a DIY model. Given your recent videos on wildfire smoke and cleaning, you might be interested in what he has to say.

[@HomePerformance]

Alex is s client of mine, yes I know that vid. He’s mostly focused on the CADR, the airflow of those systems.

[@ryansoo4000]

@@HomePerformance Hello! So is his information valid? Is his air filter design more effective at removing particulates than other filters, especially at removing wildfire smoke?

[@HomePerformance]

@ryansoo4000 you can see the research chemists of CIE saying someting similar in the video that drops today, and the one that’s linked within it.

[@superspeeder]

Building my own place, every bedroom closet, bathroom and the kitchen will have an exhaust. Every bedroom, living room, family room, dining room will have a supply. Not hard.

[@andreycham4797]

Yea , put air intake next to front porch , so someone in your family or your guests could go there to smoke

[@antonkachulkin6980]

Can I ask “stupid” question? What is wrong to use regular fans in the bathrooms or kitchen and open windows and doors ones in the wile? I want to build icf home and that is a big topic everyone is talking about! Thank you in advance!

[@tweake7175]

not a stupid question at all, even i see this a bit. i hope he has a proper answer for you. if your building a high performance home, the last thing you want to do is let dirty air come into the house. so your not going to be opening windows. also the big advantage of being air tight is your now able to keep outside and inside air separate. with ventilation you do that with an erv. inside heat and moisture stays inside, and outdoors stays outside. so you don't want to be running normal bath fans and ruin that. with a rangehood you have to because of the large air volume, it has its own make up air. what i tend to see is some people trying to do a high performance home and also trying to run them like a low performance home. to me its one or the other, you can't do both. its also a huge waste of money to run it as a low performance home. (some people here build passive houses for the name, so they can sell for higher profit instead of actually using them as a passive house).

[@HomePerformance]

Not stupid, already have a vid for you: Borderline of Balanced Home Ventilation: When Do I Need an ERV because Bath Fans Won't Work? kzbin.info/www/bejne/op-ydHSGhbuHa8k

[@drdroop2163]

We all have a bad day at work, apparently.

[@MarkRose1337]

That plan was truly bizarre.

[@infinitybeyond6357]

On the Ground Floor, is it literally an "Airlock", like in space, where only one door can operate at a time? Is the "Airlock" a security feature? or an atmospheric control feature? why is there only a supply air register in the "Airlock"? why is the "Airlock" door swinging into the middle of the Hallway? will likely hit people walking in the Hallway. does the "Airlock" means something else in your local area? is it like a mudroom or foyer? Garage for 1 car only? A Real Greenhouse is a great place for CO2 and O2 exchange, yet nothing designed for the area, seems like an opportunity lost. Great Room, is that a fireplace in there? is that why there are tons of supply air register in there? the plan looks detailed and professional, but design is bad. i don't know what to think.

[@Th3120ck]

Wonder how much money the builder paid for this plan....