Passively Helping Achieve Odour-free, Fresh Environment

New developments by Passivent can help sheltered housing, extra care and nursing and care homes not only comply with national minimum standards but simultaneously improve the environment both within the establishment and beyond.

Key points in both the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes and the sector’s Social Care Institute for Excellence Practice Guide 09 both require that ‘premises are kept clean, hygienic and free from offensive odours throughout’, to help deliver Dignity in Care.

Specification of a Passivent Assisted Ventilation (AV) system provides silent, discreet ventilation, with the flexibility to address the requirements of specific areas, be it humidity, odours or both, either constantly or as required.....

Low power continuously running central extract fans strategically located in the roof space or similar ducts moisture laden air and odours to the outside. Humidity sensitive extracts in “wet” bathrooms, shower rooms, toilets, provide silent, demand-controlled ventilation ensuring s fresh, condensation-free environment without any occupant involvement. The only running cost is the minimal energy consumption of the fans, each of which extracts from several rooms.

A single low energy fan strategically located in the roofspace or service cupboard is linked to discreet roof-mounted terminals and humidity responsive extracts in each bathroom, toilet and en-suite. The extracts in the ‘wet’ rooms to react to changes in air moisture, opening to boost ventilation in the appropriate room as required eg when it is occupied, until the balance and air quality is restored. The ‘damp, used’ air is extracted via the roof terminals. The system only uses electricity to power the fan which ‘services’ numerous rooms and/or en-suites, and, as there is only one fan, maintenance is correspondingly reduced. Further, as the fan is located away from the living areas, there is no noise to disturb residents or carers.

A range of extracts enables exact tailoring of the ventilation to each specific area, be it humidity in bathrooms, showers, toilets and kitchen areas, odours in WC’s and sluice areas, or a combination, and for the ventilation to be constant or ‘on demand’- either manually or motion sensing.

As the flow rate is controlled by the extracts in each room, ventilation is tailored to exact requirements, operating only as, when and where needed, rather than boosting the whole system when moisture in just one bathroom rises. As a result, heat loss through unnecessary ventilation is eliminated, further enhancing the system’s energy efficiency and lifetime costs.

Passivent ventilation is already proven in the care home environment, both refurbishment and new-build.

Wellburn Care upgraded the Grade II listed Grimston Court and included Passivent’s ventilation to ensure each resident’s room in the main house remains fresh and odour-free but without impairment to the historic, ornate décor. Explains David Robinson, Development Manager for Wellburn Care, “It was an extremely complicated specification because of the need to preserve the décor and reflect our wish to create the ambience of a 5star hotel. The design work from Passivent was fantastic, developing a scheme that would work properly yet blend in with the opulent internal finish.”

Helen McArdle Care has also used Passivent ventilation in its newbuild projects. Explained architect Brian Wood, of Mackellar Architecture, designer of new care homes for Helen McArdle Care, “Because the Passivent system uses few fans, there is significantly reduced maintenance and risk of fans breaking down. There is no need to install a fan in each room, and thus the problem of people switching the fan off, or being disturbed by the noise of it running. Every room is properly ventilated, without draught, and no odours. The residents don’t even know the ventilation is there, which is just what we want!”

Passivent is part of the Building Product Design Group and is the UK’s leading designer and supplier of natural ventilation systems for both domestic and commercial applications. Passivent AV is just part of the company’s range of ventilation solutions that use little or no energy to function.