Even Air Has an Expiration Date... Adding Dehumidification and HVAC to the Cheongjeong Ventilation System

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] "Air also has an expiration date. Kyungdong Navien's Clean Ventilation System designs the quality of air to enable indoor ventilation on its own."

Son Seung-gil (56, photo), head of the Air Design Research Institute, who joined the related work around 2006 when Kyungdong Navien, a leading company in the boiler industry, began to actively improve indoor air quality, said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has made consumers pay much more attention to the fact that indoor air significantly affects human health."

Son said, "The importance of indoor spaces where we spend a lot of time is increasing, and the key task is how to manage air quality to protect these spaces from harmful factors such as viruses, fine dust, and radon, and to make them more comfortable."

At the end of last year, Kyungdong Navien launched a Clean Ventilation System that simultaneously addresses ventilation and air purification functions. This Total Air Care system can independently process and remove radon, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide without opening windows on days when outdoor air quality is poor due to fine dust. It applies a powerful four-stage filter system (▲electrostatic dust collection filter ▲deodorization filter ▲large dust removal filter ▲odor and harmful gas removal filter) that can filter out more than 99% of dust particles at one-tenth the size of typical fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Especially, the 'Air Monitor,' which accurately measures indoor air quality, supports management tailored to the different air environments of each space. Customization is also possible.

Consumer interest in the Clean Ventilation System surged immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak. Son said, "The clean ventilation market is still a blue ocean whose value has not yet been revealed. It will establish itself as a 'New Life Appliance' necessary for better air quality, and we plan to continue product development in the ventilation business."

The ultimate 'finished product' envisioned by the Air Design Research Institute is to combine dehumidification and cooling/heating functions with the air purification system. Son stated, "Based on the fact that high humidity worsens discomfort, we plan to develop technology that integrates humidity control functions with the ventilation system by the end of this year, and ultimately link cooling functions to introduce a 'Total Air Care' system around the end of next year."

Kyungdong Navien operates the HVAC Research Institute in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, which researches boilers; the Air Design Research Institute, which studies clean ventilation systems and renewable energy; and affiliated company research institutes that study home automation and boiler-related control technologies. Son, who leads the Air Design Research Institute, majored in mechanical engineering at Seoul National University and earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the U.S., he joined Kyungdong Navien in 2009. Kyungdong Navien plans to relocate its research institutes and increase research personnel.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.