Smarter Ventilation in Social Housing: From Data to Action – How Smarter Ventilation Systems Respond in Real Time

When we move, we breathe more, why shouldn’t our homes?

Introducing a new generation of responsive systems and the benefits

We often talk about building physics when we think about retrofit; insulation, airflow, heat loss, but maybe we should use biology as a metaphor as well. Because homes aren’t static, at least when they have people in. They aren’t the same at 9am on a Monday as they are at 9pm on a Sunday. There are many changes going on that homes should respond to, just like living things do.

When we are hot we perspire. When we are cold, we shiver. When we move, we breathe more. When we sleep, we breathe less. Our bodies are constantly responding to the world around us. Shouldn’t our homes do the same?

The short-term and long-term shifts

A home faces a whole range of changing demands, both day-to-day and over the long term. There’s the immediate stuff, people coming and going, cooking dinner, doing laundry, switching on the heating. Then there are bigger shifts, the seasons, fuel bills, a baby arriving, energy upgrades, even climate change.

We already expect our heating to adjust to the outside world. That’s why we have thermostats, smart ones too, that help us manage comfort in a responsive, hands-off way. So why is ventilation designed as “one size fits all”?

Ventilation should flex around real life. And real life is messy. Hanging your washing indoors in February in the UK is entirely reasonable. Cooking up a storm for friends on a Saturday night? Perfectly normal. Netflix and chill for hours? The way of the modern world. The key is a system that adapts to what’s happening, rather than assuming one pattern fits all.

Giving homes a wider comfort zone

A responsive ventilation system doesn’t just ‘ventilate’, it actively supports how we live. It extends the operating envelope of the home, helping it adapt to different lifestyles and unpredictable usage. Crucially, it works around residents, rather than demanding they work around it.

In our homes today, the potential for this kind of adaptability is huge. Monitoring conditions like humidity, temperature and CO₂ isn’t new, but using that data to automatically adjust airflow is the game-changer.

Take purge ventilation, for example. Regular, targeted bursts of airflow can be just as effective as continuous background ventilation, but with far greater energy efficiency. And when that’s automated, rather than left to residents to remember to open a window twice a day, it becomes more reliable, less intrusive and far more effective.

Smart ventilation gives residents less to worry about, not more. Hanging your clothes before work? The system increases airflow while you're out. Just had a shower? The vents open to clear the steam. Gone to bed? Perfect, the living room will get a quiet, gentle refresh while you sleep so you don’t feel a draught.

Better for residents, better for housing providers

Responsive ventilation isn’t just about comfort. It’s about looking after the home too. Long term changes in occupancy or lifestyle of residents change the needs of the home, particularly for risks around damp and mould. Works on the home such as retrofit or new windows can affect the need for ventilation and change is going to create challenges for the performance of homes with more extremes of heat, cold and rain. 

The more the home itself can adapt to these long term changes, the less it falls on the landlord to intervene. That means fewer customer issues, fewer callouts and less cost in repairs and maintenance. 

And it builds trust. Residents can learn they and their homes are being looked after without having to worry about it. Housing providers get systems that work in the background, reducing callouts, improving energy efficiency and delivering long-term value.

Towards a smarter home environment

As low-carbon heating and smart systems become the standard, ventilation needs to evolve too. Simple trickle vents and intermittent extractors just don’t cut it in a world where we expect our homes to do more: to adjust, to learn, to respond.

At AirEx, we’re developing technology that does exactly that. Systems that not only monitor what’s happening in the home but respond flexibly and intelligently, helping homes stay healthy, efficient and comfortable without needing hands-on attention.

Because a smart home isn’t just one that observes. It’s one that reacts and responds too.