RenewAire’s EV Premium Series of energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), for use in residential and light commercial buildings, won in the Automated Ventilation System (HRV and ERV) section in the HVAC/IAQ category of the awards. ERVs help buildings achieve higher rates of air changes while reducing the energy penalty that comes with those changes.

The award came after a panel of housing industry professionals judged dozens of the year’s most innovative and technologically advanced housing products, services, and solutions, according to John Galante, president of AE Ventures, Boston, who announced the awards. Winners in other categories come from across the building industry and include some of the industry’s most prestigious brands, such as General Electric, Panasonic, Dish, and Eaton, a press release from RenewAire said.

The innovations of the hard-wired EV Premium Series align with the Brilliance Awards’ theme of automation technology.

The ERVs use energy-efficient, electronically commutated (EC) motors as they replace stale, contaminated indoor air with fresh outdoor air, RenewAire said. Static-plate enthalpy cores transfer energy from the exhaust air to precondition outdoor air for optimum cooling, heating, and humidity control, and the variable-speed fan automatically adjusts to remove airborne contaminants, the company said. EV Premium Series models include a demand-ventilation mode activated by occupancy sensors, or by a button on a manual remote, to avoid harmful levels of CO₂, volatile organic (VOCs), and other airborne contaminants in the conditioned space, the company said.

The ERV’s digital controller allows contractors to make quick and easy outdoor-indoor air-balancing and airflow adjustments, RenewAire said.