Development of retrofit directive air handling units officially launched

At a meeting around the further sustainability of building installations, the official kick-off was given for the development of a new retrofit guideline for air handling units. As a symbolic kick-off moment, the AQ Group, Blygold Netherlands Group and Piguillet Group the starting board officially to John Lens director TVVL and in his capacity as a director of the Knowledge centre Binnenklimaattechniek.

The development of the retrofit directive should contribute to future-proofing existing air handling units within utility buildings. In practice, there is a large sustainability challenge for existing installations, with retrofit playing an important role in improving energy performance, comfort, circularity and indoor climate, without completely replacing installations.

With the directive, the parties involved aim to create more uniformity and quality assurance around retrofit solutions for air handling units. In addition, the guideline should provide guidance to consultants, installers, building owners and manufacturers when assessing, designing and implementing retrofit projects.

The initiators' ambition is to present a first version of the retrofit directive before the summer. This version 1 will form the basis for further development, integrating practical experiences and additional market insights in the coming years.

The guideline is being developed in close cooperation between service retrofit companies and suppliers of air handling units (AHUs). This cooperation brings together knowledge from both practice and product development, with the aim of achieving a widely supported and applicable guideline for the market.

John Lens stressed the importance of cooperation within the sector during the meeting: “Making existing buildings more sustainable requires practical and widely supported quality guidelines. Retrofit of air handling units offers enormous opportunities to make existing installations smarter, more energy-efficient and future-proof. It is important that we act jointly in this on the basis of knowledge, quality and innovation.”

From its knowledge and networking function, the Binnenklimaattechniek Knowledge Centre will remain involved in the further development and dissemination of the directive within the market. In the coming period, various market players, experts and stakeholders will be involved in the substantive elaboration of the retrofit directive. This will mark an important step towards further professionalisation and sustainability of the indoor climate engineering sector.