Certification

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Air handling units
Certification manual
Certification Manual
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Technical Certification Rules

Scope of the programme

The Eurovent Certified Performance (ECP) programme scope for Air Handling Units (AHU) covers selected ranges of Air Handling Units. Each declared range has to present at least one size unit, with a rated air volume flow below 3 m3/s. For each declared range, all real unit sizes available in the selection software, up to the maximum stated air flow, and all model boxes, are considered. All configurations have to be made known for certification.

Product types certified include:

  • Model box
  • Real unit, heating only, without heat recovery
  • Real unit, reversible, with heat recovery 
  • Real unit, reversible without heat recovery.

Ranges without at least one size, with a rated air volume flow below 3 m3/s are excluded. A number of AHUs are excluded from the scope of programme and set out in the Technical Certification Rules.

Additionally, there is an option for AHUs in an already certified range, to also be certified as “hygienic”.  Find out more about the programme scope for Hygienic Air handling units.

Certify-all principle

Whenever a company participates in the programme for air handling units, all AHU within the scope of the programme and produced in the declared factory, must be certified in accordance with these Technical Certification Rules. For the AHU programme, the certify-all requirement is applicable worldwide as identified by the Certification Manual.

Product type

Air handling units provide ventilation and indoor air quality for buildings. They are designed to condition the air that is processed in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, and move it around a building. AHUs are typically used in medium to large commercial applications, and can be installed internally or externally. Modern HVAC systems tend to include multiple AHUs to control different zones.

AHUs are factory made encased assembly, or flat-packaged units. The supply AHU comprises a model box (housing or casing), fan(s) and at least one other component for processing the air, such as a filter, heater, cooler, energy recovery component, humidifier, dehumidifier, or mixing section. AHUs can include multiple components, which can make them very complex devices. AHUs use a ductwork system to deliver conditioned air into a room. Typically a fan pulls ventilated air into the AHU, where it is then conditioned and distributed around a building. 

A return AHU is a more simple unit and may include only a fan and damper, to pull in exhaust air and expel it to outside of the building.
 
Under the AHU programme, the product types certificated include:

Model Box
The model box is the construction envelope of the AHU, built according to specifications presented in manufacturer’s literature. In the AHU programme it is used to establish mechanical, thermal and acoustical performance according to the relevant EN standards. 

Real unit, heating only, without heat recovery
In the AHU programme, an AHU of a specific size, with a heating only function, without heat recovery, is used to establish performance for all the available functions of the AHU range. This is done in accordance with the relevant EN standards.

Real unit, reversible, with heat recovery
In the AHU programme, an AHU of a specific size, with both heating and cooling, without heat recovery, is used to establish performance for all the available functions of the AHU range. This is done in accordance with the relevant EN standards.

Real unit, reversible, without heat recovery
In the AHU programme, an AHU of a specific size, with both heating and cooling, and heat recovery, is used to establish performance for all the available functions of the AHU range. This is done in accordance with the relevant EN standards.

Definitions

While exploring our certified products you’ll come across a number of technical terms relating to certification. The below definitions help explain the search criteria in our certified product directory.

Model box

All certified product types in the AHU programme in the model box unit category have the following criteria in common:

Brand
Brand name of the manufacturer.

Range 
Listing of models with some common features.

Model
Model name.

Sub range
Part of a range using the same Model Box(es) and grouped under the same designation.

Panel thickness
Is the panel thickness. Measured in mm.

Insulation material
Is the insulation material used e.g. Rockwall, Polyurethane, mineral wool etc.

Insulation material conductivity
Is the conductivity of the insulation material. Expressed in W/(m.K)

CS Class
Means casing strength class. This is measured in Deflection in mm/m, which relates to the deformation of the sides of the unit under positive and negative pressure. D1 offers the least deflection, D3 the highest.

CAL class @ -400 Pa
Means casing air leakage under negative pressure at -400 Pa. The casing air leakage class (CAL class) relates to the amount of air leaked through the casing. L1 offers the lowest leakage and L3 the highest.

CAL Class @ +700 Pa
Means casing air leakage under positive pressure at +700 Pa. The casing air leakage class (CAL class) relates to the amount of air leaked through the casing. L1 offers the lowest leakage, L3 the highest.

FBL class
Means filter bypass leakage class. It shows the air bypass around filter cells, and casing between the filter and the fan, as a percentage of rated air volume flow. F9 offers the highest tightness class, with the lowest filter bypass leakage:

Filter class  G1 to F5  F6        F7        F8        F9      
Maximun filter bypass leakage rate k in % of the volumn flow rate  6  4  2  1  0.5


TT class
Is the thermal transmittance class, also known as the U-value. This relates to the heat flow per area, and temperature difference through the casing of the air handling unit. T1 has the lowest heat losses thorough the casing and T5 is the highest.

TBF class
Is the thermal bridging factor class. It is the ratio between the lowest temperature difference between any point on the external surface and the mean internal air temperature, and the mean air-to-air temperature difference. TB1 offers the best thermal bridging factor, while TB5 is the worst.

Casing acoustical insulation
Is a measure of the sound insertion loss value of the air handling unit. It shows how much the casing reduces noise generated from within the unit. It is measured at the following frequency bands:
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 125 Hz
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 250 Hz
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 500 Hz 
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 1000 Hz 
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 2000 Hz 
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 4000 Hz 
•    Casing acoustical insulation at 8000 Hz.

Factory country
Country of manufacture.

Factory city
City of manufacture.

Software version
Version of software selection tool.

Software name
Name of software selection tool.


Real units

The following criteria is applicable to:
•    Real units, heating only with no heat recovery.
•    Real units, that are reversible, with heat recovery
•    Real units, that are reversible, without heat recovery.

Brand
Brand name of the manufacturer.

Range 
Listing of models with some common features.

Model
Model name.

Sub range*
Part of a range using the same Model Box(es) and grouped under the same designation.

Height
Height of the unit in mm.

Width
Width of the unit in mm.

* Not applicable to real units, heating only with no heat recovery.

Software name
Name of software selection tool.

Software version
Version of software selection tool.

Factory country
Country of manufacture.

Factory city
City of manufacture.


Search for a certified air handling units via our certified product directory.

Main certified characteristics

Mechanical characteristics 

The following mechanical characteristics are certified: 
a - Casing strength (CS)
b - Casing air leakage (CAL)
c - Filter bypass leakage (FBL)
d - Thermal transmittance of the casing (TT)
e - Thermal bridging factor (TBF)
f - Acoustical insulation of casing 

Performance characteristics 

The following mechanical characteristics are certified: 

a - Air flow - Available static pressure - power input 
b - Octave band in-duct sound power level 
c - Airborne sound power level 
d - Heating capacity** 
e - Cooling capacity**
f - Heat recovery dry efficiency ** 
g - Pressure loss on water side**
h - Heat recovery pressure drop on both air sides
i - For run-around coils, fluid side pressure drop, glycol percentage and absorbed motor power of the circulation pump (if pump rated in output)
j - Calculated Eurovent AHU Energy Efficiency Class.

** If standard features of the product range

Search for a certified products in our AHU programme via our certified product directory.

Find out how to apply for the AHU programme.
 

💡 Good to know

When using the Advanced Search Criteria function for the model box you can search via casing strength class, casing air leakage class @ -400 Pa, casing air leakage class @ +700 Pa, filter by-pass leakage class, thermal transmittance class, thermal bridging factor class and casing sound insulation at 125 Hz.

When using the Advanced Search Criteria function for real units you can search via height or width.

 

Search for certified products in our Air Handling Unit programme

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