SWERV
Learn more about this product at swervair.com
The Smart Window Energy Recovery Ventilator (SWERV) was my formal Senior capstone project at Columbia. The operating principle is fairly simple: a source of air ventilation with passive heat exchange with the environment, resulting in reduced loading a residence’s central HVAC system.
In two semesters, my team of three brought nearly a dozen prototypes to life, tested heat exchanger geometries and materials in a custom environmental chamber, and pitched SWERV to a board of judges. As of June 2025, SWERV has been incorporated into its own company, and we plan to scale production to a few thousand units by the end of 2025.
Prototyping
Prototyping SWERV involved 3D printing (ABS, PLA, etc.), laser cutting (PMMA, polycarbonate), and custom wiring and circuitry.
As the Lead Electrical Engineer of SWERV, I was responsible for component selection (power electronics), designing a custom control board, developing organized wire harnesses, and tracking the IEC and UL standards that govern consumer device safety. I focused heavily on enclosing all electronics with the intention that SWERV would ultimately obtain an Ingress Protection (IP) rating.
Testing
SWERV needed to be tested across a range of simulated environmental conditions. As such, my team commissioned an old HVAC lab experiment to supply air at a desired temperature and dewpoint into a large environmental chamber. The “environmental chamber” was actually just the enclosure for our lab’s air compressor, but we used it as a thermal reservoir.
I set up an Arduino-powered DAQ to gather temperature and humidity data from four positions/stations across the testing apparatus. We used an OTS oscillating fan to reverse the flow at a known period (one of SWERV’s trademark features), ultimately arriving at an ideal period that yields the highest thermal effectiveness.
Operation
SWERV ventilates a residential space by alternating between supplying and exhausting air, passing this air through a heat exchanger every cycle. The fan speed, as well as the flow direction, can be set by the user.
The only powered components are the primary fan motor (120VAC) and the flow-reversing servo. When in steady operation, the unit pulls no more than 100W, allowing the user to ventilate his or her space while reducing the cost of preconditioning the incoming air.