Compiled by Eamonn Ryan

Smart EC fan technology optimises IAQ, efficiency and sustainability.

Francois Schoombie, technical and operational director, ebm-papst. © RACA Journal

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has never been a static concept. From humanity’s first encounter with fire to today’s debates over ventilation standards, IAQ has reflected a persistent tension between comfort – what occupants can smell or tolerate – and health, what actually harms them over time. As Max Sherman argues in ‘IAQ Paradigms – The Next Generation’, the field is now at the threshold of another major paradigm shift, one that reframes ventilation not around odours or compliance, but around quantifiable harm.

Lessons from the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of ventilation and filtration in public health. ASHRAE’s work during this period informed Guideline 42, integrating more research on outdoor

air management, demand-controlled ventilation (DCV), and filtration for infectious aerosol control. The guideline helps practitioners apply lessons learned – such as verifying outside air rates, monitoring damper performance, and ensuring that DCV systems are correctly used and maintained.

Guideline 42 addresses several real-world operational challenges that extend beyond simply meeting design standards:

Humidity control: Proper humidity management prevents mould growth, protects materials, and enhances comfort – particularly in humid or tropical regions.
Building operation: Maintaining appropriate ventilation and pressurisation during periods of low occupancy prevents deterioration of air quality and costly remediation.
Demand-controlled ventilation: The guideline clarifies the role of CO₂ sensors in DCV systems. While CO₂ is a useful indicator of occupancy, it is not the sole measure of IAQ. Effective systems integrate multiple sensor inputs to optimise airflow and maintain air quality.

Ultimately, Guideline 42 complements Standard 62.1 by translating IAQ science into practical, actionable measures. It offers a living framework that will evolve as new research and technologies emerge, particularly in the areas of filtration, sensor integration and advanced control systems.

For designers, building operators and facility managers, it represents a roadmap for achieving cleaner, healthier, and more resilient indoor air – an increasingly vital goal in every ventilation and filtration strategy.

Stock at Multi-Wing South Africa. © RACA Journal

Advanced fan technology and the future of IAQ

By Francois Schoombie, technical and operational director, ebm-papst

Most ventilation systems are static in control philosophy or are not speed-controlled at all. EC technology makes integration into Building Management Systems (BMS) and speed control easy, thereby ensuring accurate Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), with actual operating parameters and ventilation rates fed back to the BMS or control system.

As a fan supplier, ebm-papst products are developed and tested according to applicable country and/or legislative performance standards in our own accredited laboratories and test chambers, situated at our various manufacturing facilities. When we provide turnkey solutions (not components only) to customers, our approach is governed by our motto, ‘Engineering a better life’.This reflects\ our commitment to sustainable and intelligent solutions for a better climate – for people, their applications and our environment.

From a performance and control perspective, there is no such thing as a ‘free lunch’ in ventilation. If IAQ can be achieved and maintained purely by natural ventilation, this will always be the most sustainable solution. However, from a fan manufacturer’s point of view, the combination of both natural and mechanical ventilation should be considered rather than one or the other. The determining factor is whether such a hybrid system is considered and incorporated from the initial design and inception of a project or building.

There are many application-specific examples where ebm-papst fans have enabled hybrid ventilation strategies that combine natural airing with mechanically controlled airflow to optimise comfort, energy use and pollutant removal. These examples are documented in our case studies and white papers, which are subdivided into different strategic business fields used to categorise our air technology products and solutions.

Ventilation standards such as ASHRAE 62.1 and 62.2 clearly quantify the required fan performance characteristics. Selecting the most appropriate control strategy, however, depends on the specific application. To optimise this strategy, the control systems should be integrated into a higher level BMS or cloud solution. This is only possible when the actual performance characteristics of the fan can be fed back into the system. Balancing energy use and occupant comfort requires a closed-loop control system that both actively and dynamically adjusts fan characteristics according to actual real-world conditions. Static or open loop control systems cannot achieve this. With the utilisation of our NEXAIRA system we can control, record and prove compliance of Indoor AirTargets (IAT) to the RESET Standard or other required standards.

Among the most common challenges or misconceptions encountered when designers apply ventilation rate standards in real-world systems is that design standards and human perception inherently rely on worst-case scenarios and/or conditions. Ventilation rates are accordingly based on the highest requirements. Many times, actual real-world requirements in the application are lower. Using EC technology and closed-loop control systems, fan performance can be matched to exact requirements rather than overperforming to meet static design requirements and/or standards.

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