in pursuit of energy efficient minimalism
Vent Panels – the new high performance window?
The other day, a colleague was looking to increase ventilation for a project without adding daylight or increasing heat loss through the envelope. He had been looking at dampered louvers, but felt the approach wasn’t quite up to par. A brief discussion on ventilation options ensued, and a few minutes of research led to something we at brute force have discussed in the past – vent panels. As an example, I linked to the well-inserted vent flaps utilized for night cooling in Sauerbruch & Hutton’s UBA-Dessau and the Passivhaus school in Riedberg, both utilizing vent panels on actuators.
Perhaps it’s a throwback or affinity to shuttered opening from centuries ago, but it’s also a technique that was utilized on several Modern buildings and mid-century modern houses. In fact, one of the first examples we ran across was on a trip to Crown Hall to visit a friend in grad school. As an architect, it’s insanely hard not to geek out over the building. At first, I thought keeping the glass a few inches off the floor was probably a smart move –with no baseboard, it was bound to get busted out or dirty. I bent over to take a closer look, and low and behold – the thing opened! In the age of fixed windows and gaudy, loud mechanical equipment – Mies had actually inserted passive ventilation into his building. The detailing of the roughly 8” high vent panels is stunning – a successful minimalist and modernist approach to providing ventilation. Granted, it’s a success outside of thermal performance.
Vent panels can be an effective way to provide ventilation without compromising the envelope and adding a touch of frivolity to a project. We also really like the formal play of fixed vision glazing against opaque ventilation flaps. All kinds of games can ensue, and decent designers are able to play the two elements off each other quite incredibly. Vent panels can be found in well-detailed, bespoke projects, or as inserts in curtain walls. Wicona has a thermally broken ventilation flap that integrates into Wicline, their triple-glazed curtain wall system.
A final aspect of ventilation flaps we are really jazzed by is that they could be an approach to a more cost-effective, better performing Passivhaus. Fixed triple pane glazing costs less, allows greater solar gain (thinner frames), is more airtight and has better U-values than operable glazing. The utilization of vent flaps on east and west exposures, and especially on the north exposure, would allow for reduced thermal transmission compared to glazing. And assuming handled half as well as the following examples, could make for a great project. Now we just need to get whoever is fabricating high performance Passivhaus doors to make some high performance vent panels.
Peck.Daam Architekten, Grundschule Baierbrunn
ODOSarchitects, Grangegorman Villas
Tham & Videgård Hansson, double house
Boyd Cody Architects, Richmond Place House
Schnieper Architekten, Haus Optiker
AFGH, Architekten- und Künstlerhaus am Fusse des Üetlibergs
Fotos: valentin jeck,
This minimally detailed façade is incredible, and the vent panels seem to make a great fit. They also avoid the use of clunky frames, maintaining the ascetism of the façade and maximizing solar gain (potentially, anyway).
Pasel.Künzel Architects, V35K18
Pasel.Künzel Architects,V21K07
Bolthauser Architekten, Haus Rauch
Bolthauser Architekten, Atelier Bolthauser
This stunning project features vent panels on either side of a large vision panel. The play of solid/transparent is furthered played up by shifting panels within the wall assembly, resulting in quite the stunning effect.
dd1 architekten, Haus Guenther
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What about opening the window to get out in an emergency (fire, earthquake, SWAT team, etc.)?
Comment by medwards — March 1, 2011
As far as code, ventilators would have to provide the egress component for residences. I don’t see any problem with that. It just has to follow the opening spec in the model codes.
I think this is really sensible, but rather than hack a solution with custom sized doors I would really like to see residential window manufacturers take this up. The ventilator could have a much higher r-value than their best glazing, and you could easily mull the units together with fixed units in the same window opening.
Comment by Greg La Vardera — March 1, 2011
In high rises and commercial buildings, means of egress is not typically planned through the façade.
As for residential, if in a bedroom or habitable attic and jurisdiction requires IRC compliance – vent panels in lieu of operate windows would fall under R310 EMERGENCY ESCAPE AND RESCUE OPENINGS
There is no requirement for percentage of glazing – just min widths/heights and opening area.
Greg, you are on to something getting window manufacturers on board. Time to make some calls…
Comment by meliason — March 1, 2011