Insights 1-2011

Experience and expertise – from the AlpsIntelligent indoor climate control solutions

1/2011

Insights Hoval Group magazine for customers and employees

Our stories are grouped into five colour-coded chapters to guide you through the varying perspectives of the Hoval world.

We are exceptional! Yes, we know that this is not a modest statement from a company that is known for its family-run culture. But we stand by it! Hoval has always done things its own way. Technology is our passion and we have conse-quently created surprising in-novations again and again over the last 66 years. It has never been our goal to offer cheap products. On the contrary. Our standards are higher ‒ much higher. Our aim is to provide real economical and ecological

value over the entire lifetime of our solutions with our systems and expert support. Quality, reliability and the continual search for excellence are val-ues that are paramount for us in the Alps. Maybe due to the raw climate.

In this newly designed issue of Insights, you will become familiar with the Hoval team’s strong roots.

Join us on a journey through an exciting selection of new

projects we had the opportu-nity to implement and thereby learn about innovations created by our company.

Enjoy this reading adventure!

Insights 1/2011

In focus04 Hoval Brand Day: Getting to know your own brand better.

In operation08 Japan’s bath houses require a lot of hot water. Hoval’s system solution does the job.

On the market13 In England, employees remain faithful to their brand for a long time – some for up to 50 years.

In detail16 A new addition to the controlled residential ventilation family: HomeVent® RS-500

In retrospect23 The Hoval newsletter of yesteryear: Look back at the “Hoval Blatt” of November 1974

Peter Gerner, Hoval Group Management Board/ CEO Heating Technology

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Dear Reader,

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The cost-effectiveness of Hoval solutions pays off. Enthusiasm incites outstanding achievement. Hoval core products like aluFer® are part of the family.

Poland. Modern “sounds” on Frédéric Chopin’s birthday.

Hoval is exceptional.

The museum at the birthplace of the composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin has expanded and was renovated. The heating technology installed in the museum is a resounding success.

What is the definition of exceptional? Can it be put into words, can it be felt? At the Hoval Brand Day, one thing became crystal clear: Hoval employees embody Hoval and fill the brand with enthusiasm!

Frédéric Chopin must have spent a wonderful time in Żelazowa Wola. The village lies about forty kilometres west of the polish capital of Warsaw. Frédéric Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola in 1810 and returned for holidays with his French father, his Polish mother and his three sisters. An expert on his personal story wrote that he received a solid upbringing, “characterised by warmth and tolerance”.

Chopin’s musical talent became ap-parent early on. He was considered a child prodigy, composing his first pieces at the age of seven years. As a young adult, he moved between Warsaw, Vi-enna and Paris. In 1831, political unrest in his homeland drove him to perma-nently settle in the French metropolis. In 1838, he moved to Valdemossa on the Spanish island of Mallorca for a few months, together with the author George Sand. He first encountered Sand, six years his senior, in the house of Franz Liszt in Paris. However, even in Valdemossa he was not able to recover from his chronic tuberculosis. In a letter, he described the charterhouse in which they lived as a “strange place”.

After 1847, when Frédéric Chopin and George Sand parted ways, his health deteriorated markedly. Only 39 years old, he died on the 17th of October, 1849, in his apartment in Paris.

If Frédéric Chopin could see the new centre in his birthplace, the melancholy of his last years of life would be blown away: Every year

around 120,000 guests visit the mu-seum, which was erected at the location of his childhood memories. Since 1910, regular Sunday concerts are held in his honour.

At the 200th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin’s birthday last year, a Chopin Centre and a new museum that carries his name were opened in Warsaw.

In anticipation of the anniversary, the old museum in Żelazowa Wola was expanded by several buildings. Hoval Poland worked in close cooperation with the contracted planning office, the general contractor and the installer.Energy for hot water is drawn from a

Hoval solar field and a Hoval MultiVal with an integrated heat exchanger, which in turn is connected with two Hoval CombiVal warm water storage tanks. Additional thermal power is gen-erated in the heating room by two Hoval UltraGas® condensing boilers.

The service building and technical building systems, which each consist of a solar plant and a Hoval TopGas® and Hoval Uno-3 boiler, are in line with the almost classical yet future-oriented Hoval standard systems. If Frédéric Chopin were to convert this advanced heating and hot water technology to music, he would certainly contrive a resounding success.

The people at Hoval are aware of their roots. They are com-mitted to innovation, untiring exploration, lively discussion and debate, and above all the collective spirit. This approach is consistent with the sophisticated solutions that Hoval has been offering for decades – because a whole is only as powerful as the sum of its many parts.

At the Hoval Brand Day, this degree of commitment was experienced by Hoval family members emanating from differ-ent cultures but all facing calculation exercises, knowledge tests, history lessons and photo shoots with the goal of being

the best. Ultimately, each of them emerged a winner because they were all well-informed and solved the Hoval knowledge quiz with gusto. The Hoval core brand values – solution oriented, technology driven, expert, sophisticated, respon-sible and above all family-run and enthusiastic – were given a face, the face of each individual participant.

And maybe the word “exceptional” has left its mark – made it possible to articulate brand awareness and technical and emotional values and to transport them to our customers and partners.

At the Hoval Brand Day in Vaduz, eighteen teams traced the footsteps of the brand – Hoval, this is who we are!

Entrance to the new Frédéric Chopin Centre in Żelazowa Wola.

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Switzerland. Flumroc sets a good example in energy matters.

Flumroc produces rockwool for insulation boards, which help home owners save energy. In fact, the company itself saves energy at its headquarters – in a very innovative way.

Save energy? From the basement to the roof? “There’s nothing to it!” say specialists from Flumroc. In 1950, the company name was derived from the fact that the headquarters, situated in Flums in the St. Gall canton, produces rockwool. As the company states, Flum-roc offers its customers the “full power of nature” when it comes to insulating and protecting. It processes regional rock and recycled rockwool to produce a total weight of 50,000 tonnes of insulation board a year. Flumroc names itself the Swiss leader for products pertaining to heat and sound insulation and to fire protection.

However, the 270 Flumroc employees do not stop there. They know that the issue of energy consumption is becom-ing increasingly important, especially for home building and renovation. That is exactly why the innovative and crea-tive people at Flumroc are continuously looking for new insulation solutions.

When it comes to energy, Flumroc itself sets a good example: a photovoltaic installation suspended over the logistics park in Flums has delivered current from solar energy since 2010. And what an installation it is: the 320 modules are mounted on two track cables and one haulage cable – a development modelled on cable car equipment. Their orientation follows the sun, not only in a north-south direction but actually on two axes.

The innovation was developed by the Flumroc subsidiary Pamag Engineering AG in conjunction with cable car spe-cialist Bartholet Maschinenbau AG in Flums. Experts estimate that movable Solar Wings produce 25% more energy than fixed, roof-mounted reference sys-tems. With an annual output of 90,000 KWh, the 320 Solar Wings supply the power demands of thirty households. Available space exists on the premises for an additional 160 panels.

Flumroc is an energy conscious en-terprise, setting priorities in its heating system which surpass legal require-ments. While energy efficiency must be as high as possible, CO2 emissions should be conversely low. The four, newly installed Hoval UltraGas® (1000) condensing boilers switch on in a cascade – depending on the power de-livered by the district heating network to which Flumroc is connected. Creating a powerful system with a small foot-print and low noise emissions due to an integrated damper was a particular challenge to Hoval, Pamag Engineering AG and Beeler Haustechnik AG. But the effort, resulting in an exemplary system of its kind, was well worth it.

High energy efficiency is Flumroc’s top priority: power is delivered by a photovoltaic system and heat is generated by four Hoval UltraGas® (1000) condensing boilers.

Italy. New heating plant for the Vatican.Standing on the plaza in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, many are left in silent awe at the view of the monumental church building: The impression is overwhelming.

Valuable freight: the new Hoval high-performance industrial boilers provide pleasant warmth in the Vatican chambers.

England. A good learning environment begins with the technology.

Children as young as three years old romp around on the campus of the King Fahad Academy. This is where they experience child care, visit kindergarten and later go to school – until they gradu-ate at age 18 and possibly continue to university. “We run a school for girls and a school for boys,” explains Sumaya Alyusuf, headmistress of the school. The lesson plan is based on Islamic princi-ples while also incorporating elements from the British and American school systems. Around 500 pupils from 35 different countries learn from lessons taught in two languages, English and

Arabic: “This is a unique opportunity to develop an understanding for other cultures, philosophies and ways of life,” declares Sumaya Alyusuf.

The academy, founded 25 years ago, has its own mosque. The school’s name goes back to the former king of Saudi Arabia, King Fahad Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al-Saud. The King Fahad Academy lays a foundation for children, teachers and parents to create a “learning community” together. “We want the children to be able to grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually,” says Sumaya Aluyusuf.

One aspect of this growth is mutual toler-ance and the support of each individual.A good learning environment begins with its technology: the King Fahad Academy now heats its rooms and the water with seven UltraGas® (500) condensing boil-ers. A&G Partnership was able to reduce the number of heating plants from five to two and thus achieve greater heating efficiency by also renewing the ducts. Engineer Jerome Salmon of A&G Part-nership chose Hoval deliberately: high energy efficiency and low emissions are his key concepts.

Young people need an environment that is conducive to learning. The environment at the King Fahad Academy in London gives rise to an understanding between cultures.

For many years, Hoval has had a solid business relationship with the Vatican and was therefore involved in upgrad-ing the heating plant and district heating network which dated back to 1920.

Hoval specialists alongside Vatican tech-nicians sized the plant’s power output to its actual energy requirements. After

analysing the energy consumption over several years, they decided to replace the three previous boilers outputting 5.5 MW each with three Hoval high-performance industrial boilers generat-ing 3 MW each. The heating plant output power was reduced by around 40% so the Vatican saves energy – without turn-ing down the heat on Pope Benedict XVI

in his Palazzo Apostolico chambers or on the people around him.

Incidentally, the reaction of the truck drivers who delivered the boilers was not different from that of visitors from all over the world: the sight of the church and plaza was uplifting as they concentrated on the road and freight.

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Austria. Distinguished innovation in a revitalised castle.

Encircled by mountain peaks and nestled in lush Ennstal meadows, the aristocratic builders chose a spectacu-lar location for this 12th century castle. Before Ernst and Gerlinde Schrempf bought it in 1984/85, Thannegg Castle went through changeable times, even being used as a poor house, and be-came severely dilapidated.

With energy and perseverance – but also with love and passion – the Schrempfs converted the former ruin into an elegant hotel with 45 beds. Any-one looking for a unique place to spend their holiday-- be it to find tranquillity or to pursue sporting activities -- has come to the right place at Thannegg Castle – simultaneously saving the environment in doing so.

From the very beginning, Ernst and Gerlinde Schrempf attached great im-portance to environmental sustainability and compatibility. Therefore, they chose a sustainable energy source for their heat supply.

At the heart of the system are the Hoval Thermalia® (90X) heat pump for under-floor heating and the Hoval Thermalia®

(19H) heat pump for hot water. A deep ground water well provides the primary heat source. In addition, heat is extracted from wastewater. “We also utilize the waste heat from the cooling systems and the room air,” adds Ernst Schrempf.

This degree of environmental protec-tion attracts attention – and is clearly a

pleasure to achieve: Thannegg Castle, and thus Ernst and Gerlinde Schrempf, received the “Energy Globe Styria Award”, a coveted environmental distinction award in the province of Styria.

These historic walls are home to an innovative spirit: Thannegg Castle, a four-star hotel in the UNESCO world heritage region of Schladming-Dachstein, relies on renewable energies to heat its 100 rooms and the hot water used by its 45 guests.

Thannegg Castle, and thus Ernst and Gerlinde Schrempf, received the “Energy Globe Styria Award”, a coveted environmental distinction award in the province of Styria.

The system may be viewed on appointment:+43 3685 23 21 00Hotel Schloss ThanneggMoosheim, Schlossweg 18962 Gröbming-Schladming, Austriawww.schloss-thannegg.at

Japan. Relaxing in 40 degree water.Many Japanese see public bath houses as a social institution: in the so-called sentō, Hoval can become an institution as well.

This solar-powered system generates hot water for a sentō public bath house using only the sun’s energy.

Visitors can relax in 40 degree hot water.

Imagine not having a bathtub or shower in your home. Private bathrooms are still a relatively new invention, while communal and village bath houses have been around for centuries.

Japan, for example, has made a cultural and social institution of public bath houses, where men and women, generally of older generations, gather in separate areas. Nudity is the great equalizer that eradicates any social dif-

ferences. Some visit sentōs to escape from the confines of their own four walls and use the bath purely for personal hygiene, while others enjoy sauna and massage facilities often available in the more modern bath houses.

Before the Japanese step into the communal bath, they lather up from head to foot and scrub themselves completely clean. The communal bath itself is not for cleaning but for relaxing.

This explains why the water in some pools is very hot – at least forty degrees Celsius.

The sentō are generally designed according to similar plans, with the entrance resembling a kind of temple. Behind the bathing area the water is heated in a boiler room. In the Kitanoyu bath in the port city of Nagoya, which opened in the summer of 2010, the boiler room is equipped with two Hoval UltraGas® (720) condensing boilers.

They generate an enormous amount of heat to make the bath a relaxing experi-ence for 1200 to 2000 visitors every day.

Almost like a crowning achievement, the first Hoval solar system installed in Japan is perched on the roof. Fifty-six panels are distributed over an area of around 140 m2, delivering the welcomed hot water through renewable energy. Hoval was an active innovative pioneer

in Japan once before: when the Hoval UltraGas® was the very first condens-ing boiler installed in Japan in 2005, at which time it created quite a stir with its high efficiency and low emissions. Meanwhile, it has become a popular installation in bath house, which require high output heating systems. In 2008, Hoval won the technology award pre-sented by the Japan Gas Association for the UltraGas® condensing boiler.

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Russia. Enormous power outputs for Moscow’s sewage treatment plants.Even the mere transport from Austria to Russia was a mammoth task. The sewage treatment plant in Moscow, where we ultimately installed four boilers, is one of the largest in the world.

Germany.

Galileo Galilei would be pleased.

He looked and he discovered. The 17th century Italian mathematician, Galileo Galilei, was one of the first people to gaze at the stars through a telescope. Presumably, the brilliant scientist would be thrilled by today’s new satellite navigation system that bears his name. It is currently being developed by the European Union and the European Space Association ESA.

Galileo will deliver data globally to be used for precise positioning. Initial ser-vices are expected to become available in 2014, but full operation is not likely before 2016. At that time, thirty satel-lites will circle the Earth at an altitude of more than 23,000 kilometres. A network of ground stations will monitor and con-trol these satellites.

One of the ground stations is cur-rently set up in Oberpfaffenhofen. The

German Aerospace Center (DLR) is already located on the premises.

The DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen switched from district heating to gas during this expansion. “For the new Galileo con-struction project, we therefore delivered an UltraGas® (700D) heating plant,” reports Hagen Jakubek, regional man-ager of Hoval for south-east Germany. “The ESA areas (German Remote Sensing Data Center) of the DLR have also been obtaining heat from an Ultra-Gas® (1000D) since last winter.”

When the Galileo satellite navigation system is running at “full speed”, the control centre at Oberpfaffenhofen will employ up to 100 engineers and

scientists monitoring more than 30 control panels. The Oberpfaffenhofen site is a core centre of the Galileo ground segment.

Presently, a multi-national team is on the premises, working on system development and preparation. The satellite navigation system is intended to interface with the next generation of the widespread American GPS system, promise DLR executives. This will give rise to “navigation signals at previously unparalleled levels of availability and reliability for the mass market”.

Europe develops its own satellite navigation system: Galileo. The heating systems at the control centre in Oberpfaffenhofen are ready for lift-off.

What it might look like: Satellite navigation system models revolving around the Earth.

From Austria to Russia: the convoy finally reached its destination after a 14-day journey.

Employees at the Moscow sewage treat-ment plant eagerly awaited the arrival of the heavily loaded convoy: four special transporters hauling roughly 120 tonnes and three articulated lorries estimated to carry an additional 30 tonne load.

They had come a long way – from Austria, through Germany, Poland and Belarus. Along the way, the trucks were sometimes accompanied by police and customs escorts. This helped avoid traffic obstructions while also ensuring the safety of the transport. After all, the 150-tonne load was formidable in size: the curves of the three Hoval heat recov-ery steam generators and the combined fire-tube and smoke-tube boiler partially extended beyond the cargo bed.

The four boilers are part of the system with which the WTE-Wassertechnik company from Essen, Germany, mod-ernised the Ljuberzy sewage treatment plant while simultaneously making it more energy efficient and environmen-tally friendly. Three heat recovery steam generators utilise heat energy that would otherwise be lost and are equipped with exhaust heat exchangers for still better waste heat gains. They were primarily installed to support sewage sludge treat-ment. This system, combined with the five gas engines installed upstream from the heat recovery steam generators, provides an electric power output of 12.5 MW and a thermal output of around 19 MW. Gas engines generate 9 MW of the thermal output while 10 MW of output come from the boilers.

The combined fire-tube and smoke-tube boiler, which is also equipped with an exhaust gas heat exchanger and deliv-ers a power output of around 10 MW, is used to supplement during peak load periods and as a backup system should the heat recovery steam generators fail. This boiler can also be used for natural gas combustion.

Hoval previously worked with WTE-Wassertechnik in Moscow in 2008 when they modernised the heat and energy efficiency levels of the Kurjanovo sew-age treatment plant. In this instance as well, four gas engines draw energy from the treatment plant’s biogas to drive the Hoval heat recovery steam generators. Plant performance reaches an electri-cal output of 10 MW and a thermal output of 8 MW. Both the electrical and the thermal output are directly used to

operate the treatment plant. In 2010, an additional gas engine was introduced and equipped with a Hoval exhaust gas heat exchanger. The waste heat created by the gas engine is salvaged by the heat exchanger and transferred to the treatment plant for sludge heating. This increased the electrical output of the entire system to 12 MW and the thermal boiler output to 9.6 MW.

The Ljuberzy sewage treatment plant, which was recently upgraded to improve energy efficiency, is one of the world’s largest plants: its wastewater throughput is 2.5 million m³/day, the volume pro-duced by approx. 16 million people.

It produces 600 t of sludge a day, and biogas production reaches an annual volume of 49.1 million cubic metres.

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Welcome to Hoval at http://www.facebook.com/HovalGroup

For strategic reasons, the two companies, Hoval Czech Republic and Hoval Slovakia, will be merged and will operate on the market as a joint force. Joint leadership, organisation, technical support, IT infrastructure and market will be con-trolled from the Czech Republic for both companies. Sales will be handled separately from each country.

Daniel Křístek assumed the position of managing director of Hoval Czech Republic and Hoval Slovakia on 01 April 2011. In his 12-year career, he gathered experience at Hilti Czech Republic and Hilti Slovakia as regional director, at Sodexho Pass as key account manager and at the Alixid Group as managing director. Daniel Křístek, who holds an MBA degree from the University of Nottingham, also holds a master’s degree in economy. His many years of experience in sales, leadership positions and in the B2B sector will be valuable assets as he assumes these new responsibilities.

Václav Fišer, former managing director of Hoval Czech Republic, will assume management of the technical depart-ment of Hoval CZ and SK. Václav Fišer will provide valuable support to the new team by drawing on a wealth of in-depth technical knowledge gained from his many years with the Hoval company.

Ján Leško, managing director of Hoval Slovakia, will assume the position of sales director in Slovakia. Since his heart is in sales, he is predestined for this important position.

We would like to wish the new team every success in the future!

Nomen est omen – a name is a sign, a sign that has both an inward and an outward impact. This is exactly what Hoval intends to achieve by unifying the company names of its various country subsidiaries: to create explicit “Hoval” brand recognition. The brand name symbolises unity and emphasises that together we are strong.

After over 60 years, this reduction cre-ates a new focus. Divested of historical suffixes and indications of the subsidi-ary’s country, all Hoval companies now operate under the same brand name – Hoval. In Liechtenstein, the Hovalwerk AG will now be the Hoval Aktiengesell-schaft, and in Switzerland Hoval Herzog AG becomes the Hoval AG.

The only differences between the companies are on paper and pertain to their legal form and location. In all other aspects, these companies long ago merged into a single entity in the heads and hearts of Hoval employees: a Hoval is a Hoval worldwide.

“Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. As of January 2011, Facebook has more than 600 million active users.”

This is a fairly sober description on Wikipedia of one of the largest and fastest growing social online networks of our time. The “Friends” principle has long broken the bounds of the private realm and now attracts countless business players who welcome an open exchange of opinions.

This includes the Hoval Group, with 14 companies worldwide plus 50 sales partners, which has had a Facebook page since the winter of 2010. The page presents an excellent opportunity for inviting all Hoval friends to the round table, so to speak, to enjoy personal stories and adventures from the world of Hoval, to expand their knowledge by participating in competitions or to simply come into contact with colleagues and friends.

The exchange is lively, the world of Hoval and its friends moves closer together and the initial “test balloon” has already gained markedly in height.

Slovakia/Czech Republic. New organisation.

International. A Hoval is a Hoval worldwide.

International. Hoval on Facebook.

“When I finished school at 16 years of age in the summer of 1961, I began my technical training at Farrar Boilers of Northgate in Newark. In those days, a trainee began by washing floors and running errands. And it seemed to me that there were an endless number of parts to deburr. I primarily had to produce juice presses, slurry tanks and pneumatic tube systems. Sometimes I was allowed to help assemble a steam boiler or assist a worker with hot riveting of a boiler with cross tubes.

Hoval came in 1964 and our company began producing Hoval boilers. These had either a galvanic heating coil or one of copper. During this time, a young man named Peter Frick joined us to

learn the British art of our trade. In time, he knew all the employees and when we met him in the evening on the street, we always exchanged a few words. I think that by the time he returned home, he had become well-accustomed with our beer.

Throughout my years with the company, I was a service technician ranging from northern Scotland to southern Cornwall – Windsor Castle and London included. Currently, I am performing service work in our factory in Lincoln and am in my 50th year with the company. A milestone like this may never repeat itself. I wish our company all the best in the future.”

England. Then came Hoval – and he stayed his entire working life.

Mick Furniss is celebrating his 50-year anniver-sary with Hoval Great Britain – congratulations!

After joining Hoval as a sales engineer in 2004, Łukasz Lepiarczyk steadily developed the market in southern Poland and in the end actually managed its Hoval team.

As a certified energy consultant and with his university man-agement diploma, he is ideally equipped to assume his new tasks as managing director. Of course, Łukasz Lepiarczyk can also draw from his many years of experience with Hoval.

Poland. New management.

Łukasz Lepiarczyk became managing

director at Hoval Poland.

The happy first prize winner was the Guler company in Klosters.From left to right: Martin Bigger, Gian-Luca Brullo, both from Hoval AG, and Heiko Födisch with Markus Klucker, Guler AG Haustechnik.

For Heiko Födisch and Markus Klucker from Guler AG Haustechnik in Klosters, the 2010 World Cup has a fantastic sequel: on 29 May 2011, they will personally ex-perience the Swiss Cup Finals in the Basel St. Jakob Park.

They won tickets in the Hoval World Cup Toto lottery. In addition, two people from the Rupla Planungsbüro from Buch in the Schaffhausen canton and two from the Gebäudetechnik AG in Arnegg in the St. Gall canton will be travelling to Basel.

The purpose of the World Cup Toto was not simply for Hoval to test the football exper-tise of its customers. It also gave the topic of controlled residential ventilation a “push” and increased the visibility of the Hoval HomeVent® residential ventilation unit.

Switzerland. Heading to the Swiss Cup Finals thanks to Hoval.

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Detail of the Hoval heat exchanger showing the ribbed structure, which causes water turbulence and thus makes heat transfer far more effective.

The youth centre, sexton’s house and rectory are all connected to a local heating network, whose central heating unit is installed in the basement of the parish centre

Local and district heating have a promis-ing future – and the potential of sparing the environment and the wallet.

For small networks, Hoval offers a complete system beginning with the central heat produc-tion unit all the way to the transfer station. Customers obtain everything from a single source and tailored specifically to their needs.

District heating. Hoval is ready for the future with an end-to-end system.

sustainably by distributing it through a pipe system in the form of hot water. Hoval offers a suitable station to transfer district heat from the pipe system to the building. See the insert on the left for more information.

Practical overall solutionTo more effectively respond to the growing interest in local and district heating, Hoval bought into the Germany company Yados a little over a year ago. Yados builds standardised and customised compact heating stations.

“We see great potential in this field, particularly in the area of micro district heating networks,” explains Peter Gerner, CEO Hoval Heating Technology. “Our heat generators, such as the large BioLyt pellet boiler and the UltraGas® condensing boiler, as well as some of our solar-powered systems, can be integrated into the system to create an overall solution.”

Expertise in consultation, planning and service“By joining with Yados,” Peter Gerner continues, “we have expanded our product assortment to enable us to flex-ibly and competently supply all requirements of local and district heating operators.” In addition, this move has con-siderably broadened Hoval expertise in terms of consulta-tion, planning and service in the field of district heating. Peter Gerner puts it in a nutshell: “In just a short period of time, Hoval has advanced to become one of the most competent providers in the field of local and district heat-ing. We are now focusing our attention on buyers of local and district heat and on the operators of these networks.”

Maintaining central controlYados also produces cogeneration plants for natural gas and biogas in the range of 43 to 405 kW of electrical power. These plants can be intelligently integrated in Hoval system equipment by means of the Hoval TopTronic® controller and thus combined with other Hoval products such as solar- powered systems.

District heating knows virtually no limits when it comes to the variety of applications: single and multi-family homes, commercial facilities, office complexes, factories and public buildings – it can heat, cool and provide hot water for all. Depending on the type of energy source used, harmful emis-sions can be kept to a minimum because the heat is gener-ated centrally.

The standard source of primary energy in the low power range is pellets or gas. For the high power range, the energy often stems from biomass, such as wood chips or pellets, or from residual heat as from waste incineration plants, for example. Instead of letting residual heat dissipate unused into the atmosphere, district heating uses this valuable energy

The right heat station for every need

The hub of any district heating system is the transfer sta-tion: the TransTherm Giro is ideal as a compact station, and is suitable for both new and existing buildings. Primarily, it can be connected on the left or right, but also secondarily at the top or bottom.

The TransTherm Comfort is a practical “all-in-one” district heating station for a power output range between 9 and 58 kW. Like the TransTherm Giro, it is designed for private interiors and is equipped with the Hoval TopTronic® control-ler. It doesn’t get any simpler than this.

The two models, TransTherm CAD1 and CAD2, can be matched precisely to customer requirements. The CAD2 is best suited for industrial and commercial buildings with an output range between 30 and 5000 kW.

All Hoval TransTherm district heating stations are equipped with Biral mini energy circulating pumps of the A class, making both heat generation and heat distribution a highly efficient matter.

“In just a short period of time, Hoval has advanced to become one of the most competent providers in the field of local and district heating.”

Peter Gerner | CEO Heating Technology

The directors of the Saint Gallus Catholic Parish, located in Tettnang in southern Germany, have eco logy and economy on their minds. When the time came to replace the heating system for the parish centre, rec-tory, caretaker’s house and youth centre, they chose a local heating concept and became the first customer to choose a Hoval BioLyt (160) pellet boiler.

The 160 kW boiler that forms the heart of the system is located in the basement of the parish centre. It supplies heat energy for all three “satellites”. The pellet boiler itself is cascaded with a Hoval UltraGas® condensing boiler, which switches on when the biomass system reaches its limits.

Thanks to such cascaded solutions, a pellet boiler only needs to work during 80 percent of operating hours and can therefore be smaller in size than a biomass com-bustion system that must cover 100 percent. With such a system, expensive peak times can be handled at a relatively low investment cost.

In Tettnang, the Catholic parish has reduced CO2 emis-sions by 70 tonnes annually with its local heating concept. The amortisation period is less than five years.

The Tettnang cascade

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The HomeVent® RS-500 may be the younger “brother” of the two home ven-tilation units – Hoval HomeVent® RS-250 and RS-180 – but it is the biggest member of the family. It thrives in large surroundings: villas, doctor’s practices, commercial spaces, salesrooms and areas with high occupancy rates such as offices, schoolrooms and seminar rooms.

The RS-500 is yet another example of how well the Hoval family works hand in hand. The development engineers

who created the new residential ventilation unit made use of a technol-ogy that has been proven a thousand times over to achieve an air flow rate of 500 m3/h. The engineering plans were then passed to the production depart-ment, which assembles the device and implants the heart of the system -- two rotary heat exchangers. The result is the HomeVent® RS-500, now ready to recover heat and moisture to create a pleasant climate for the end users.With respect to comfort and energy efficiency, the RS-500 follows in the

footsteps of its siblings: they are able to recover the heat energy contained in the air humidity and thus achieve a heat recovery factor of up to 130%. In addi-tion, excellent noise insulation makes the HomeVent® RS-500 one of the quietest units in its class. Thanks to the integrated dust and pollen filters, the RS-500 almost imperceptibly creates a pleasant climate.

Still more fresh air: the new residential ventilation unit, Hoval HomeVent® RS-500, actually generates twice the power of the smaller model, HomeVent® RS-250.

HomeVent® RS-500. Twice as much power output to ventilate large spaces.

The first HomeVent® RS-500 is completed. Patrik Woerz, Head of Residential Ventilation, and his team are proud of the results.The individual components of the HomeVent® RS-500 are assembled carefully, a guarantee for superior quality and reliable operation.

The initial sketches and modules of a new system are created on a computer. Before air actually flows through it, a system undergoes a fascinating development.

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Installers and their customers cannot wish for anything more compact: the Hoval Thermalia® (6-15) heat pumps offer everything they need, inside and out. This reduces planning and installa-tion efforts. In addition, the next genera-tion of heat pumps being introduced in autumn runs extremely quietly and is optically even more appealing.

Despite the compact design of the unit, its components are generously dimensioned. The new, large area heat exchanger is particularly notable: it contributes to a higher coefficient of performance (COP), which is the ratio between the heat output and the consumed electrical power. As a result, the compressor works less and therefore also requires less energy. The savings

effect is obvious, as is the improved efficiency. This is further augmented by the speed-controlled A-class pumps that are a standard feature in the new Thermalia® (6-15).

The new version of the compact heat pump achieves a higher flow tempera-ture at 62 °C. This ensures high heating circuit temperatures, making it possible to keep existing radiators in place when refurbishing old buildings.

Incidentally, one advantage of the Thermalia® (6-15) brine/water heat pump is the hydraulic unit for filling and drain-ing the brine: the station is positioned to permit easy access. It goes without saying that the heat pump is equipped with a brine pressure monitor.

A precise remote control: TopTronic® online

The automatic heat pump of the new Thermalia® (6-15) communicates bi-directionally with the heating regulator. This enables the close and specific adjustment of entire sys-tem’s power, leading to improved reliability and control.

The web-based TopTronic® online can be used to remotely call up data from the brine pressure sensor of the compact brine/water heat pump from anywhere in the world. In addi-tion, it can transmit data from the brine pressure gauge and the supply and return flow sensor. Thus, when needed, Hoval service technicians can access the heat pump online – with-out being on-site – and redefine its parameters as required by the customer. The customer themselves can likewise make online adjustments to the operating state and room temperature.

Belaria®twin heat pump with two compressors

Since its introduction during the summer of 2010, the Belaria®twin air/water heat pump for a power output range between 20 and 35 kW has performed very well. Although it is equipped with two compressors, it has a remarkably compact design.

The Belaria®twin (20-30) heat pumps are suitable for instal-lation both inside and outside and can be adapted for cooling by reversing the circuit flow.

All models in both series are equipped with an A-class pump 0-10V, enhancing the efficiency of the circulation process.

The 2-stage machine can readily adjusted to the building load, resulting in fewer starts and stops and thus saving energy.

Using heat pumps to warm rooms and heat water saves energy – in fact, an increasing amount of energy thanks to Hoval. The Hoval Thermalia® brine/water and water/water heat pumps, with a power output range of between 6 and 15 kW, spare nerves and costs – during planning, installation and operation.

Heat pumps.The compact Hoval Thermalia® has got it all.

The scroll compressor in the shape of a snail is the heart of the Thermalia® and Belaria® heat pump family.

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If there is one way to save energy in a particularly efficient manner, then it is with heat recovery. That is why European regulations give it special consideration. However, the re-quirements do not necessarily apply to all of Europe since an individual nation’s regulations and the European standards sometimes contradict each other.

Nevertheless, some common denominators can be identified: indoor ventilation systems must be capable of recovering en-ergy, a new requirement in Germany, for example. The heat recovery efficiency (HRE) should generally be a minimum of 60%. The requirements are more stringent for higher classes, making the HRE at least 70% – as is generally the case in Switzerland. The standard pressure drop per air stream should not exceed a value of 200 pascal. Higher pressure drops are accepted at higher HRE. It is expected that such general requirements will become tighter in the coming years.

Heat recovery efficiency compared to standard efficiencyThe amount by which the exterior air is heated relative to the maximum possible heating is represented by the heat recovery efficiency. It is used to classify the heat recovery

unit. However, the HRE does not take into account whether the recovered energy is actually needed.

Far more helpful and useful is the standard efficiency, which sets the heating of the exterior air against the required heat-ing. The standard efficiency is important because inside heat loads, such as lighting or machines in factories, warm the interior and thus heat the extract air to a higher level than the supply air temperature. In this case, the standard efficiency is higher than the heat recovery efficiency.

An example: For an HRE of only 60%, you obtain an annual standard efficiency of around 70% if the temperature differ-ence between the extract air and the supply air is 2 °C. At a 4 °C temperature difference, the annual standard efficiency rises to 77%, at 6 °C even to 84%.

In short: The annual standard efficiency increases with the extract air temperature and decreases at a high HRE. With respect to the cost effectiveness – high investment, high operating costs due to pressure drops – high heat recovery efficiencies are often not advantageous.

Europe is becoming increasingly energy conscious. Legislation is calling for higher heat re-covery requirements. However, aiming for high heat recovery figures does not necessarily lead to the best solutions. What counts is achieving high cost effectiveness while meeting the applicable standards. Hoval therefore recommends adjusting the heat recovery to the heat load.

Indoor climate systems. Adjusting heat recovery to the heat load.

Hoval has years of experience with compact, roof ventilation units and efficient heat recovery. In addition to the existing series of ventilation, heating and cooling units for high halls, we offer a new RoofVent® twin heat, twin cool and twin pump product line. It is fully attuned to the increasing demands for heat recovery.

RoofVent® LHW: Supply air/extract air 8000 m³/h Heat recovery efficiency (dry) at least 63% Pressure drop of heat recovery 170 pascal

According to the new directive 3803 of the Association of German Engineers (VDI), the heat recovery of the RoofVent® LHW meets the standards for the highest class H1. If the temperature difference between the extract air and the supply air is at least 3 °C, the device meets the HRE of 70% required in Switzerland. This results in an annual standard efficiency of around 76%, one percentage point higher than the Swiss requirement. RoofVent® LHW is therefore ideally suited for halls with high interior heat loads.

RoofVent® twin heat/cool/pump:This newly designed product line uses two high performance plate heat exchangers. This reduces additionally required heating power. The recovered power ranges between 31 and 78 kW, depending on the temperatures. RoofVent® twin pump is even equipped with a reversible heat pump for decentral-ised heating and cooling.

RoofVent® twin heat: Supply air/extract air 7100 m³/h Heat recovery efficiency (dry) at least 75% Pressure drop of heat recovery 291 pascal

This extremely high HRE meets Swiss requirements for annual standard efficiency, even without a high extract air temperature. The “twin line” of RoofVent® also complies with the German Renewable Energies Heat Act. It lies well within the existing European standards and directives and will easily meet the increased requirements expected in the future.

RoofVent® meets every requirement.

RoofVent® twin heat with two high-performance plate heat exchangers for high efficiency heat recovery.

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“The additional value that we are able to offer our customers today results from our entrepreneurial history and our pioneering spirit,” says Günther Köb, Head of Development, Fossil Fuels. He is talking about the two condensing boilers, UltraOil® and UltraGas®. Their patent demonstrates the uniqueness of these condensing boilers. When Hoval first introduced the UltraGas® condensing boiler in 1994, customers were initially a little hesitant. But the call for economical and environmentally friendly energy usage became ever louder, and Hoval technology became even more sophisticated. This was the beginning of the triumph of UltraGas® and, after 2006, of UltraOil®. Their success continues to this day, “thanks to the continued optimisation of the product,” adds Günther Köb.

The element that extracts maximum heat out of every drop of oil and every

puff of gas is aluFer®. A heat exchanger without comparison, an exclusive Hoval product.

The aluFer® heat exchanger cools the hot steam and exhaust gases emitted during combustion in a particularly ef-ficient and effective manner. The addi-tional heat energy it gains is transferred to the heating water. The special struc-ture of the heat exchanger – aluminium on the inside, stainless steel on the out-side – is the reason for its extraordinar-

ily high performance: the special plate system enlarges the surface area on the exhaust gas side five-fold, allowing more steam to condense. The ingen-ious plates cause small turbulences that further intensify the heat transfer. The result – a standard efficiency of over 104% for the UltraOil® and even 107% for the UltraGas® – speaks volumes.

In total, the integrated heat exchanger recovers up to 6% of the input heat from the UltraOil® condensing boiler, and even 11% from the UltraGas®. This spares not only the environment but also the wallet. UltraOil® and UltraGas® are also ready to compete with low temperature boilers when it comes to energy consumption. While they may be more expensive to acquire than low temperature boilers, it doesn’t even take four years before cost savings due to lower energy consumption exceed the additional investment.

At Hoval, energy-efficient technology is the result of 66 years of experience. Innovations combine with tradition, a combination that has led to two condensing boilers UltraOil® (16-200) and UltraGas® (15-1000) and a double boiler (250D-2000D). Exclusive technology is at work in their interiors, drawing more heat out of oil and gas.

UltraOil® and UltraGas®. Maximum energy utilisation – with a patented heat exchanger.

The patented Hoval aluFer® heat exchanger exhibits the aluminium composite tube with

individual fins. Their micro ribbing maximises the surface area to enhance heat transfer.

“The additional value for our customers is the result of our history and our pio-neering spirit.”

Günther Köb | Head of Development, Fossil Fuels

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Impressum“Insights” – Hoval Group magazine for customers and employees. Appears biannually at varying times.Responsible: Marketing Services, Hoval Aktiengesellschaft, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

Hoval AktiengesellschaftAustrasse 709490 Vaduz, Liechtensteinwww.hoval.com