Ventoxx heat exchangers pass up to 91% on to fresh supply air. Interview with director Florian Lammeyer.

Hello Mr Lammeyer, you’re often away on business. Where are you right now?
Hello, at the moment I am supervising the construction of a large energy-efficient facility, a classic industrial building.

You already showed interest in energy-efficient construction over the course of your academic studies. How did this field gain your attention when you were so young?
My uncle was my mentor in this concerning this subject. He was actively occupied with passive houses even before they became public knowledge. As an architect he built the first passive house in Bavaria, Germany. His interest in this topic influenced my own career as a civil engineer.

Another reason are my wife and two daughters. It makes you think about the future. I believe climate change to be man-made, we need to do something about it.

Ventoxx started out in the Ukraine. What brought you to the Eastern European region?
I finished my studies as a civil engineer at a time when Germany experienced a depression in the construction business. That is why I moved to the Ukraine in 2006 where construction was booming. I always liked the mentality of Eastern European countries. Seeing that my Russian language skills were rather basic at that time, I started out as an intern. Two months later this position was changed to a secure job as a civil engineer. I oversaw the building of small and large logistic facilities and hotels with German investors.

Has your Russian gotten any better?
Yes, but not due to school teaching like some of my German colleagues had. I learned Russian from scratch, just like child. There was no other way actually, because I was often the only German on a construction site with about 400 workers. English didn’t work so I had to learn vocabulary and characters. Today I am fluent in Russian.
- He demonstrates his skills with a proverb that I didn’t understand, unfortunately.

What happened next?
From 2012 I was primarily responsible for one-family houses in the Ukraine. Implementing central ventilation systems wasn’t common practice and often caused problems in terms of structural engineering. Decentralised ventilation systems with heat recovery devices were not produced there yet, importing these appliances was troublesome. It was still cheaper than complete central systems, however the process of the import took too long, causing projects to be abandoned. That is when I started building my own decentralised ventilation systems. In 2012 the first prototype of the Ventoxx heat exchanger came into existence. The interest of Ukrainians in our product and ventilation technology in general was rather underwhelming, though.

When did that change?
Around 2014/15 we increased our sales. Due to a new policy governmental subsidisation of power and gas was omitted starting in March 2015. Thanks to the German relief organisation GTZ (Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit) we were able to satisfy the demand of the emerging market. The company Ventoxx, ChP in Kharov increased to eight employees working in the office and production. Today we are a well-established business and count amongst the three strongest competitors within the Russian-speaking region (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia).

You mentioned a price increase for energy in the Ukraine. How does that become noticeable?
The energy prices have been increasing gradually ever since 2015. Gas prices increased tenfold, power costs increased by the factor 5. People are affected directly. A retiree has an income of 150 to 200 Euro (converted from Ukrainian Hryvna). The monthly energy costs now add up to 120-130 Euro. You can imagine what that means. Even people who are well-off and could afford the price are not willing anymore to pay 2000.00 Euro for heating costs in their loft. The people are rethinking, there is a considerable demand for energy-efficient construction. At this point in time Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are still behind by 20-30 years when it comes to technology. However, these countries are catching up at an incredibly fast rate, because they simply don’t have any other option. The market for energy-efficient buildings in Eastern Europe is booming.

⮩ More information about the Ukrainian energy reform

Do you personally notice the difference?
Previously I had to talk until I was blue in the face just to explain what a Ventoxx heat exchanger and other appliances are. People simply didn’t understand the whole purpose because gas and energy were virtually free of charge. Now I receive a lot of enquiries and invitations, for example as a speaker on the topic of insulation material.

Does heat recovery work in the cold winters in the East?
The cold winters in Eastern Europe call for a high volume of thermal heat. If a wrong ventilation system is used, a lot of energy is lost. We import suitable components such as ceramic from Germany or Austria. This high-quality ceramic withstands even cold Russian winters. Cheap ceramic however freezes completely under these temperatures.

When was Ventoxx GmbH founded?
In 2016 we felt the expenditure of time and quality used for the heat recuperators was ready for the German and European market. Together with a second director I founded the Ventoxx GmbH. Europe is the most important market for ventilation systems, there is a lot of potential. German-speaking countries including Austria and Switzerland are leaders on the market for energy-efficient construction. A lot of effort goes into optimised buildings. Scandinavian countries and more recently the Baltic states have been catching up as well.

How often do you travel on business between the different headquarters?
The German and the Ukrainian Ventoxx quarters in Kharov both have separate owners. However, I am regularly visiting the Ukraine, about once a month. I am still supervising construction sites as an engineer and am involved in the development and production of new Ventoxx products.

What new developments can we look forward to?
Soon the heat exchanger Ventoxx RV 2 will be introduced. It is smaller than the RV 25 and fits into small homes. Currently, the device is checked in Germany for compliance with energy guidelines. In the Ukraine we also sell semi-decentralised units with a cross-flow heat exchanger. They circulate large quantities of air. It will take more time until the products can be introduced elsewhere, though.

Mister Lammeyer, thank you for this interview, we wish Ventoxx all the best.
 

Source: Phone call with Ventoxx GmbH director Florian Lammeyer, 12 December 2017