Hobson Place, Seattle, USA
Very High Efficiency DOAS in Multi-family Housing
Hobson Place is the first permanent supportive housing project in Washington State to achieve Passive House certification from the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS).
Centralized, balanced ventilation
The project is designed with the centralized ventilation concept, beneficial on Passive House projects because the number of envelope penetrations is minimized, which in turn facilitates the energy-saving airtightness required by the Passive House concept. Centralized GOLD RX heat recovery ventilators (HRV) serve multiple apartments, and use on-board controls to deliver balanced supply- and return- airflow to each apartment, while preventing over- or under-pressurization that could lead to wasted fan energy.
Very High Efficiency DOAS
An independent study of the project after commissioning validated the energy-savings of the GOLD RX units. The actual performance of the Swegon GOLD units installed in the South Tower were measured after occupancy; not only did they meet their design performance levels, but they also exceeded them, resulting in HVAC energy savings of 40% over the measured performance of the North Tower where DOAS equipment from a different manufacturer was installed.
Customer needs in focus
The owner’s project requirements included several measures to improve comfort and health: high-performance openings with exceptional airtightness, insulating and thermal-bridging properties and robust airtight construction that reduces air leakage and condensation risks while saving energy. To offset the airtightness and provide residents with fixed volumes of fresh air, very high efficiency DOAS units were required. Swegon’s rep worked with the mechanical engineer to select GOLD RX units that met the heat recovery efficiency and specific power requirements of Phius. efficient manner; and more efficient lighting and electrical appliances that reduce energy use and internal heat gains.
The product
The product used in Hobson Place
