Vent-Axia Wins H&V News Low Carbon Impact Award

06-12-2024

Leading British ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia is celebrating winning the ‘Low Carbon Impact Award: Commercial or Industrial’ at the prestigious H&V News Awards. Committed to providing healthy indoor air while driving a low-carbon future, Vent-Axia received the accolade for paving the way in the ventilation sector when it comes to its decarbonisation with its ground-breaking manufacturing transformation, transitioning from virgin to recycled plastic. The company’s latest innovation involves the testing of recycled plastics to create its pioneering materials database which leads the sector, making it a worthy winner.

The winners of the H&V News Awards were announced at a glittering ceremony held on 28 November at London’s Hilton Metropole. The H&V News Awards celebrates the technical innovations, outstanding individuals and programmes at the heart of efforts to deliver Net-Zero buildings and industry. Vent-Axia won the ‘Low Carbon Impact’ category and was praised by an esteemed judging panel selected from across the heating and ventilation industry. The judges said: “Vent-Axia has made a substantial investment which has resulted in significant savings. Use of plastic is a major issue for this industry’s Net-Zero ambitions and this initiative is a step in the right direction. Well done.”

To illustrate its commitment to a low-carbon future Vent-Axia has set clear sustainability targets. Vent-Axia aims to be Net-Zero by 2040, a decade ahead of the Government’s target. By the end of FY2025, the company targets 70% of its sales revenue to be from low-carbon products and 90% of the plastic used in its own manufacturing to be from recycled sources. This manufacturing transformation involves transitioning from virgin to recycled plastic. Meanwhile, Vent-Axia is dedicated to designing innovative low-carbon products to help its customers decarbonise with heat recovery ventilation at the forefront of further growth.

“At Vent-Axia we are committed to improving indoor air sustainably, we are therefore delighted to be recognised by the industry for our work in transforming our manufacturing from virgin to recycled plastic and leading the way with our low-carbon product range. At Vent-Axia we have been leading the ventilation industry since 1936 and continue to do so with our aim to become Net-Zero by 2040”, said Joseph Brawn, Product and Marketing Director at Vent-Axia. “Carbon avoidance is the only way for the UK to reach Net-Zero with the decarbonisation of buildings an essential part of this. We aim to provide our customers with the products to help them on their decarbonisation journey while also continuing our commitment to providing effective ventilation to improve indoor air quality and comfort for inhabitants.”

Fearlessly pushing industry boundaries, Vent-Axia recognised that transitioning to recycled plastic was essential for reducing carbon emissions and promoting circular economy principles. As the first ventilation company to set such high ambitions regarding using recycled plastic in its manufacturing, Vent-Axia initially faced a challenge since test houses would not certify products made from recycled material due to recycled plastic content variations and the absence of materials data. Vent-Axia paved the way by batch-testing recycled plastics in its own labs, creating a pioneering materials database to share with test houses, enabling product certification and third-party accreditation. Insights from recycled plastic research enhanced Vent-Axia’s understanding of materials, leading the ventilation sector with its knowledge depth. Meanwhile, manufacturing with recycled plastic reduces a product’s carbon emissions by up to 40%.

To achieve this transformation, it was vital to collaborate with a trusted recycler of plastics that could provide, the quality, consistency, and volume Vent-Axia needed, which was where AO, the UK’s most trusted electricals retailer, stepped in. AO has supplied recycled High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) and ABS from fridges it collects and recycles.

Vent-Axia understands the importance of cutting carbon emissions in the built environment since buildings account for 40% of energy use in Europe and approximately 35% of emissions. To meet the Government’s 2050 Net-Zero target, buildings need to decarbonise which will involve the wide-scale electrification of heating, a move away from fossil fuels, as well as significant improvements to air tightness and building insulation. Heat recovery ventilation will be a key technology to help deliver the final piece of carbon avoidance by preventing heat loss, so heat recovery technology is destined for significant growth.

To meet the necessary carbon reductions buildings are becoming more thermally efficient as they are insulated, and their air tightness is increased to avoid heat loss. However, without considering ventilation alongside these measures a building can end up with condensation, mould and poor IAQ. Energy-efficient heat recovery ventilation therefore supplies a solution that provides healthy filtered air while recovering heat that would be otherwise lost.

Vent-Axia is a solutions provider and collaborates closely with its customer base to ensure it develops the products customers need to decarbonise. For that reason, the company is constantly improving the efficiency of its products and reducing their carbon intensity. Vent-Axia can provide TM65 data to help customers understand its product range’s wider life cycle assessment including the company’s latest commercial heat recovery system, the Sentinel Apex.

The Sentinel Apex has specifically been designed to meet the challenges of decarbonisation and boasts market-leading heat recovery efficiencies of up to 93%. The Apex features energy-efficient EC/DC motors with extremely low Specific Fan Power, with motor efficiencies better than IE5. With overheating an issue in thermally efficient buildings the Apex has been designed with an automatic summer bypass, which is sized to eliminate performance loss. Ventilation on demand is also available as standard, which optimises IAQ while minimising ventilation energy consumption. The systems also contain high levels of filtration to ensure the air supplied is fresh and healthy for improved and better IAQ.

For further information on Vent-Axia’s sustainability strategy visit: https://www.vent-axia.com/sustainable. For further information on all products and services offered by Vent-Axia telephone +44 (0)344 856 0590 or visit www.vent-axia.com.