Ventilation specialists chose OJ GreenZone® for their own ventilation system

  4 minutes read

When the Danish company Exodraft built its new headquarters in 2020, they chose an OJ GreenZone® solution to control their ventilation system. Users are very happy with their day-to-day working climate – and the people in charge of commissioning the system were impressed with how quickly the system could be set up.

The Danish-owned company Exodraft makes chimney fans and heat recovery solutions for private homes and large industrial plants, covering 35 countries from sales organisations in Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden. Sharing its roots with renowned ventilation specialists EXHAUSTO, in 2011 Exodraft was separated out as an autonomous chimney draught division – and in 2021 the growing company moved to new headquarters. Says technical director Rene Mulvad:

Exodraft needed a new HQ, it was only natural that we wanted a really good ventilation system – after all, ventilation has been our speciality ever since EXHAUSTO and Exodraft were a single company. So we were quite clear that we wanted something reliable and energy-efficient”.

OJ GreenZone® chosen for easy, simple regulation

The task of creating and commissioning the system was left in the hands of GK, one of Scandinavia’s leading technical contractors and service partners. With 3,000 employees working out of 100 offices in three countries, GK’s stated objective is to supply technical installations that deliver significant energy efficiency benefits in combination with optimum comfort for the relevant building’s users. As Troels Lillie from GK explains:

“”In the case of Exodraft, the solution chosen was a VEX 4000 ventilation system from EXHAUSTO – hardly surprising given the two companies’ close connections. The VEX system is modular and very flexible, and the combination with OJ Electronics’ OJ GreenZone® system was ideal for comfort ventilation for the office parts of the new headquarters. The client wanted a system that could be regulated to ensure employee and visitor comfort, but there was no need for a full central building management solution – OJ GreenZone® covered it all.”

Troels Lillie, GK Danmark A/S, was pleasantly surprised to find that the entire OJ GreenZone® system could be commissioned in just 3.5 hours.

Monitors temperature and CO2 levels

The system monitors temperature and air quality based on CO2 levels. The temperature can be adjusted by all users via the intuitive touch displays placed in the rooms, while changes to the CO2 level settings can only be done by operators – “it’s easiest done via a computer,” says Troels.

Automatic configuration

The system uses an OJ GreenZone® module for each office, connected in series with Modbus. “Each master can handle 25 zones, and when you power them up, the zones start configuring themselves, assigning numbers from 1 to 25 and so on,” explains Troels. “They essentially tell you what’s been connected to them – in this case, they were sensors to monitor temperature and CO2 levels. The system uses VAV dampers to regulate air volumes, and as installers you save a lot of time on the preliminary set-up work because you don’t need to go out and set up each damper. The system does that for you. Of course, you still need to tell the system whether they’re set for intake or exhaust”.

Commissioning done in just one morning

Overall, commissioning was a lot faster than with more conventional systems. “As far as the OJ GreenZone® system goes, it’s a lot quicker – you’d usually expect to spend days doing the base settings, but here we were done in just 3.5 hours! So much of it can be done simply by setting up parameters on your computer and letting the modules do the rest. Fine-tuning via your computer is also very easy to do”. Troels further adds that:

“There are lots of little touches that aid the installer – for example, the units can emit a sound via their speakers, making it easy to locate the modules in each room.”

Easy troubleshooting

The OJ GreenZone® system also makes for easier troubleshooting: “You can use the system to detect errors and get warnings about any faulty components. For example, we had one user complaint about noise from the ventilation system – which was puzzling, because it ought not to be noisy. Using the OJ GreenZone® system, we found that a damper in the middle of the system was calling for 100% air flow, which was something of a mystery, but we soon found the culprit – a distribution box had been closed. With the fault identified and the pressure lowered, the noise problem disappeared”.

Appreciated by owner and users

In day-to-day life at Exodraft, users are happy with their indoor climate. As technical director Rene Mulvad reports: “We’re very pleased with the entire ventilation system, including the OJ GreenZone® management solution. It’s simple to use, it’s energy efficient, and it helps make our new headquarters a pleasant place to work”.

Read more about the OJ GreenZone® system and its benefits – such as energy efficiency, easy plug&play installation and automatic configuration.

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