Operational Performance of an MVHR System in a Retrofitted Heritage Dwelling: Indoor Air Quality, Efficiency and Duct Constraints

The integration of Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems into heritage buildings poses a series of challenges, largely attributable to architectural constraints and conservation requirements. The present study offers an operational campaign of an MVHR system installed during the energy retrofit of a protected residential heritage dwelling in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. Although environmental monitoring was carried out throughout the year, representative spring, autumn and winter days of continuous operation were analysed, as the occupants frequently avoided using the system due to noise perception. This limitation highlights the importance of considering acoustic comfort and user acceptance as critical factors in the long-term viability of MVHR in heritage contexts. The system was assessed under real-life conditions using continuous environmental monitoring, with a focus on indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal efficiency, airflow balance, and pressure losses. Despite the acceptable mean apparent thermal effectiveness (0.74) and total useful efficiency (0.96), the system’s performance was found to be constrained by significant flow imbalance (up to 106%) and elevated pressure drops, which were attributed to the legacy of the duct geometry. The results obtained demonstrate IAQ improved overall, with mean CO2 concentrations below ~650 ppm across the analysed dataset; however, daily means occasionally exceeded 900–1000 ppm during high-occupancy periods and in the absence of spatially distributed demand control. These exceedances are consistent with the measured outdoor baseline (~400–450 ppm) and reflect the need for post-commissioning balancing and room-level sensing to sustain Category II performance in heritage dwellings. This study provides empirical evidence on the limitations and opportunities of MVHR deployment in historic retrofits, thus informing future guidelines for sustainable interventions in heritage contexts.