About the research

Part A. Ventilation specific research

Due to increasing airtightness and insulation of dwellings the indoor air quality (IAQ) is no longer influenced by air infiltration. User behaviour and properties of the ventilation system now completely determine the IAQ to be achieved.

To date there has never been researched how well market-leading ventilation systems perform in practice in well insulated and airtight dwellingd. The hypothesis is that considerable improvements are possible, both on IAQ as well as on energy performance. MONICAIR is the first detailed 12-month long monitoring research project that aims to map the IAQ and energy performance of ventilation systems in over 60 dwellings in the Netherlands.

The goals of this research part A are:

1. Expand knowledge on the functioning of ventilation systems in practice.
2. Improvement of ventilation systems.
3. Adapt modelling for more accurate prognoses of IAQ and energy performances of ventilation systems.

Part B. Generic research on energy consumption of houses

Research on the relation between forecasted energy consumption (EPA/EPC) and the actual energy consumption of houses shows there are large differences between the real and the theoretically determined consumptions. MONICAIR is the first detailed 12-month long monitoring research project that aims to map the IAQ and energy performance of ventilation systems in over 60 dwellings in the Netherlands.

The goals of this research part B are:

1. Expand knowledge on the domestic energy consumption in regards to the house, installations, comfort level and inhabitant behaviour.
2. Further improvement on modelling for more accurate prognoses of domestic energy consumption.

 

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