Trial / Demo
Rybka was appointed to conduct a three-year Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) for a new-build secondary school. Initially, data collection was a labor-intensive manual process, involving CSV downloads from 433,000 data points per room, every four to six weeks. This delay meant that operational issues, such as a lack of user complaints despite high CO2 levels, were not identified immediately.
The primary objective of the project was to verify the performance of MVHR units against BB101 standards for temperature and CO2, alongside general energy performance verification. As a critical low-carbon technology, MVHR is designed to provide high air quality while minimizing energy loss.
Initial MVHR operations in the new building were disrupted by COVID-19 protocols because it was necessary to keep windows and vents open when classrooms were occupied. As the building transitioned to normal operation, the team needed to verify if the MVHR units were maintaining healthy CO2 levels and comfortable temperatures, as well as delivering energy efficiency.
The iSCAN Solution
Rybka used iSCAN to plot CO2 (ppm) against Supply Air Fan Speed (RPM), and identified that several classrooms were experiencing CO2 spikes, despite the BMS reporting the ventilation units as ‘active’. The data revealed that many MVHR units were malfunctioning, either failing to register RPMs entirely or remaining stuck at a single speed, preventing them from responding to rising CO2 levels.
These insights enabled Rybka to identify specific units that required re-commissioning and maintenance. They also discovered that some users were engaging the ‘boost’ function on units without resetting it afterwards, further hindering the system's automated energy efficiency.
Heat map diagram, indicating temperature and CO2 levels throughout the year:
Supply fan RPM during the period shown below was not registering. Temperature and CO2 showed clear increases, suggesting an MVHR unit malfunction:
Remedial Actions and Results
While originally framed as a Post Occupancy Evaluation, the integration of iSCAN allowed Rybka to move beyond qualitative feedback into a data-driven technical audit of the building’s low-carbon systems.
By using iSCAN’s Virtual Channels, Rybka was able to create custom data streams that cross-referenced occupancy variables with ventilation rates. Even when CO2 jumped to levels exceeding 1500 ppm due to MVHR failure, there were no user complaints, proving that data monitoring is more reliable than human perception for air quality.
The project followed key methodologies like BB101, proving iSCAN’s robustness in professional consulting environments, and positioning the project as a high-standard, technical audit aligned with industry best practices.
Visualizations and actionable data insights from iSCAN meant that Rybka avoided time-consuming, site-wide audits and move toward a targeted ‘hit list’ of repairs:
Heat maps confirmed that night purges were effectively lowering indoor temperatures from 26°C to a baseline temperature, ensuring the building temperature was reset for the following school day:
"IES iSCAN enabled us to accurately interpret operational data for better building performance, moving from manual data collection to high-value data insights. iSCAN reduced the need for time-consuming, site-wide audits and instead helped us form a targeted hit list of repairs. We can now focus on continual improvement by immediately identifying any issues in the MVHR system, delivering significantly more value to our clients."
Alan Skea, Director of Sustainability, RYBKA
Next Steps
Following the success of the POE, Rybka is now proposing a direct BMS-to-iSCAN connection to enable live automated data alerts, moving the school toward proactive building management.
