Experimental and numerical studies of energy-saving performance of heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system in hot-summer and cold-winter zone in China

Highly energy efficient modern buildings need to be rather airtight, which may encompass a risk of high levels of pollutants indoors. A heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system is needed to ensure that the need for ventilation is met in an optimal way. The implementation of HRV system will not only solve the issue of clean air introduction, but will also save energy.

Current research focuses on field measurements of the performance of HRV system in a test building located in east China to better study the actual energy saving performance of the HRV system in the hot-summer and cold-winter (HSCW) zone. This research has revealed the actual performance of the HRV system.

The experimental measurements show that the system can save 14.5% of air-conditioning energy consumption in summer and 7.6% of heating energy consumption in winter. The energy saving effect in transition seasons is not significant. EnergyPlus has been used to calculate the energy performance of the HRV system under differing operating conditions.

After comparing the simulation with the test data, both the research measurements and simulation measurements indicate that the use of HRV system can significantly reduce energy consumption of the air-conditioned buildings in both summer and winter in the HSCW zone.