Faces of the Eurovent Commission: Britta Permats
Britta Permats is the Managing Director at Svensk Ventilation (The Swedish Ventilation Association), where she previously served as Technical and Environmental Manager. As part of our ‘Faces of the Eurovent Commission’ series, she gave us a synopsis of the Swedish IAQ and IEQ initiatives that Svensk Ventilation participates in.
Britta Permats has been long involved in the Eurovent Commission and several Task Forces of Eurovent. She is a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) engineer who also studied physical education and health at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH. Britta has worked in various positions at different companies as an HVAC planner, a Technical and Service Manager at Viessman Sweden, as a Work and Environment Inspector at the Swedish Work Environment Authority and also as a Business Developer at FlaktGroup. As part of the ‘Faces of the Eurovent Commission’ series, we managed to ask Britta about the Swedish initiatives impacting Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ).
What are the Swedish initiatives or projects that are being undertaken to increase local Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and or Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and how sustainable are they?
Svensk Ventilation’s vison is for a healthy and energy efficient indoor climate for everyone and the task of Svensk Ventilation is to communicate that, a better indoor climate and long-term energy savings contribute to better health and a reduced climate impact.
Svensk Ventilation is invested in quite a number of initiatives and some of our initiatives or projects include a number of seminars for property owners about ventilation, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and sustainability. We recently participated in the politician week in Almedalen 2023 (Gotland) with a seminar about energy-efficient and healthy buildings with a low climate impact. The Almedalen Week is the democratic meeting place for everyone. A magical place for dialogue, exchange and unexpected meetings that help to develop our society. We saw this as an opportunity to meet up with people in an informal and relaxed atmosphere and interact with them about energy-efficient and healthy buildings with a low climate impact.
As an association which represents members from all the different trades within the industry, on their behalf, we participate in meetings and seminars in the Swedish Parliament to discuss energy efficiency and how to improve IEQ. We have created campaigns about the importance of ventilation with IAQ focus (2021) and with focus on energy efficiency in 2024. Currently we are planning for the Nordbygg fair which will take place on 23-26 April 2024 in parallel with the RoomVent together with Swedvac (EMTF) which we participate in. RoomVent gathers policymakers, designers, researchers, engineers, and other professionals. It provides an exclusive opportunity to meet up and an excellent forum to share and disseminate technical information and new ideas. As well as to discuss the latest developments and future direction in the fields of HVAC and the built environment. One other project which we take action in is producing reports, writing articles and debate articles on IEQ, energy efficiency and sustainability. Over the past couple of years, we have realised the importance of documenting the acute information, this is the first step in advocating for better indoor air quality and indoor environmental quality and we surely look forward to be involved and participating in more initiatives in the future.
About Svensk Ventilation
Svensk Ventilation represents the ventilation companies in Sweden – manufacturers, installers, service companies, dealers and consultants. Its member companies together, employ approximately 10.000 people in Sweden.
The organisation highlights the importance of indoor air for health and the possibilities of ventilation technology to reduce energy use in their buildings. Svensk Ventilation represents the industry vis-à-vis authorities, government and the EU – when it comes to legislation and regulations. In addition, it makes visible the industry’s need for skills development and new recruitment of young people.
About the Eurovent Commission
Eurovent’s Member Associations are represented in the Eurovent Commission, which is Eurovent’s steering committee. The Eurovent Commission does not only define the general political guidelines of the association, but also monitors and mediates the activities of its subordinated Product Groups. It also serves as a forum for exchange of information and cooperation between the Member Associations. The Eurovent Commission ensures that Eurovent positions are always broadly representative of wider European interests across all sizes of enterprises. The Eurovent Commission elects a Chairperson for a three-year term and appoints a Vice-Chairperson for a one-year term according to a rotating schedule. Both are automatically members of the Eurovent Board.