Grants and Contributions

This International Co-Innovation Action Program (ICAP) project will prepare the firm to enter into future international co-innovation work in the Switzerland and Europe. Nu-Air is a heat recovery ventilation manufacturing company looking to identify co-innovation partners who have high efficiency counterflow heat exchangers and knowledge of the Ventilation industry in Europe that are interested in the commercial ventilation market.

A niche market for Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV) that install directly to furnaces or air handlers has been established in several key markets in the United States. The market size is not large enough for the top ERV manufacturers to participate and the one firm who has been producing the product cannot meet the current minimum requirements for sensible recovery efficiency (SRE) and fan effacacy. This project would use experimental development and Nu-Air's IP to evaluate if our existing procut offering can be modified to fill the market need.

The project involves implementing processes for productivity improvement throughout all work areas in manufacturing. It builds upon the previously completed assessment phase that identified and demonstrated that LEAN manufacturing principals can significantly improve the plant capacity by eliminating waste and better balancing work flow. Concepts such as U-cell assembly and khan ban supermarkets improve visibility on problem areas and are designed to be flexible to adapt quick to opportunities for improvement.

We will use experimental development methods to incrementally advance the the thermal, latent and electrical efficiency of our light commercial energy recovery ventilators. We will evaluate polymer membrane cores, counter and cross flow heat exchanger designs, electronically commutating motors, building management interfaces and other premium features. Effort will be made to advance the fit and finish with premium paint and hardware.

The firm will carry out an assessment of its operational processes to determine capacity, improve labour tracking, evaluate assembly methods and identify opportunities for automation. An industrial engineer will be hired and outside consultants will assist. Among the deliverables from the project will be a detailed work plan for increasing production output to 2000-3000 residential H/ERVs per month. This document will address automation, process improvement and advanced manufacturing. SSI will deliver a final report that quantifies the current facilities capacity and tools to plan and track labour and evaluate changing capacity scenarios. Contractor will deliver an initial assessment on Advanced Manufacturing opportunities.

This project is a technical feasibility study of the AE125 air exchanger for use in markets in the United States. We will conduct code reviews of the key standards that govern ventilation in new building construction. These are the International Residential Code, ASHRAE 62.2, the international Mechanical Code, ASHRAE90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code. We will also conduct field demonstrations and assess the competitiveness, comfort, occupant satisfaction compared to other established ventilation solutions.

The project is to develop total energy recovery ventilators (ERV) for residential housing in North America. The products performance, capacity, size and features will be tailored to key emerging trends. These being the continued growth in multi-unit residential buildings, large foot print single family homes, renewed interest in energy efficiency and an overall increased awareness and demand for improved indoor air quality as a result of COVID-19.

The purpose of this CanExport SMEs agreement is to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for activities related to export market development that are part of an export business case for a specific target market, particularly where activities are targeting departmental priority markets and sectors.

Development of 3 residential heat and energy recovery ventilators that target markets in North America that are not covered by our existing product offering. These include a low profile Energy Recovery Ventilator for the condominium market in moderate winter climates, a high efficiency (>75%) heat recovery ventilator cold winter climates and a low profile HRV for condominiums in cold winter climates.

Development of hydronic air handlers optimized for the P9-11 energy performance standard, while meeting or exceeding manufactured cost targets, size constraints.