EN 16798: Ventilation Requirements and Energy Recovery in Buildings

What EN 16798 Covers

The EN 16798 series (which replaced EN 15251) sets the framework for indoor environmental quality and the energy performance of ventilation and building services. It defines how much ventilation is needed and, through the accompanying energy requirements, when recovery is effectively mandatory.

Energy Recovery in the Standard

Where outdoor-air rates are high, the heating and cooling load from conditioning that air is large. EN 16798’s energy calculations assume recovery effectiveness values that must be verified by a test method such as EN 308. In practice, meeting the building energy target forces the designer to add an ERV or HRV.

Link to EPBD

EN 16798 supports the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which drives near-zero-energy building requirements across member states.

Applying It

Size the recovery device to the design ventilation rate and confirm the assumed effectiveness against the actual unit’s rated data. Our engineers can map EN 16798 requirements to a specific core, or email kuns913@gmail.com / WhatsApp +86 15753355505.

常见问题

Which parts to read
The series splits into several parts: EN 16798-1 sets indoor environmental criteria, while EN 16798-5 and -7 cover energy performance and the calculation methods that make recovery effectively required above a ventilation threshold. Start with the part that matches your building type, then pull the effectiveness assumption and check it against the unit rated data. Where the assumed recovery cannot be met, the design must add or resize the ERV/HRV.

常见问题

Does EN 16798 require energy recovery?

It sets ventilation and energy-performance criteria; where ventilation rates are high, the accompanying energy requirements effectively mandate recovery to meet the building energy targets.

How does EN 16798 relate to EN 308?

EN 308 provides the test method to verify the effectiveness values that EN 16798’s energy calculations assume.