The residential ventilation market in Europe grew by 9.8% in volume in 2021, more than offsetting falling sales during the pandemic. The surge came despite global supply chain issues preventing even stronger growth, a study by Interconnection Consulting shows.

In 2020, the sales volume for residential ventilation systems fell by 5.4%. The UK market in particular, as well as the markets in Italy, Spain and Belgium, which were hit hardest by the pandemic at the time, made a very strong contribution to the declining numbers. However, in Great Britain, as in the other countries, a rapid recovery set in. In Italy, volume growth exceeded 15% in 2021, almost entirely compensating for the decline in the previous year, with the “Superbonus” program playing a key role. With a market volume of EUR 279.6 million, Germany is the largest market for residential ventilation systems. Sales there increased by 3.2% in 2021. Even in the Corona year 2020, the German market was able to achieve good growth rates thanks to a stable renovation sector. It was above all the countries in the DACH region and the Netherlands that steered comparatively well through the crisis. As in other sectors, the market for residential ventilation was also affected by high price increases – sometimes in the double-digit range – although there were also considerable differences from country to country. The majority of manufacturers made multiple price adjustments and planned further increases for 2022.

Heat Recovery is booming in some countries

In terms of quantity, exhaust air systems without heat recovery (HRV), which are usually used in bathrooms and toilets, account for the largest share. These account for around 45% of the market share and were able to grow more strongly in value in 2021 with 13.8% growth in value overall market. This is followed by the central systems with heat recovery with a market share of 44%. In France in particular, there was a very strong increase in this category with growth of almost 50% compared to the previous year, breaking the downward trend of recent years. Strong subsidy programs managed to reverse the trend here. Nevertheless, this segment is also the one with the greatest growth potential, as the study shows.

Decentralized heat recovery systems are very popular, especially in Germany. However, other countries also show high potential for catching up in this area, such as Italy, where sales of this product group increased by 34%. In the past, Germany has been able to record growth rates in the double-digit range for some years, especially in the area of ​​decentralized systems, although growth in this area has recently weakened somewhat, with subsidies also playing a role in Germany, where there have recently been some changes. However, in countries such as Austria, the subsidy landscape is even more important as a demand driver, although the Austrian market for domestic ventilation with heat recovery has been suffering from declining subsidies for years, which is also reflected in the market development. Another problem in Austria is subsidized housing, where the construction costs must not exceed a certain amount. Since systems with heat recovery compared to exhaust air systems entail significantly higher costs, especially as an initial investment (even if these are amortized over the life cycle of the property), these are saved again and again by the property developers in order to reduce the construction costs and to avoid the upper price limits still being able to comply with in social housing.

Positive Trends

Before the pandemic, market saturation in the central systems in particular hit the market and led to lower overall growth rates. However, the market situation has changed fundamentally compared to the time before the pandemic. The renovation market is booming thanks to support measures from some governments and has thus become one of the biggest drivers of the market. Renovations are strongly supported in the individual EU countries, e.g., in Belgium through the Renolution program, which promotes the energy efficiency of existing houses in the Brussels region with €350 million by 2024. The goal is to triple renovation spending to reduce the average energy efficiency of Brussels homes to 100 kWh per m2 per year by 2050. Overall, the renovation share in living space ventilation in Europe is 60%. In general, Corona has also breathed life back into the previously stagnant market, as the importance of clean air has regained consciousness and has become an important market driver. Another driver are the increased energy prices, as Andreas Erdpresser, author of the study, explains. New construction, especially as a driver for central heat recovery systems, is currently difficult to predict, as rising interest rates could curb growth in this segment.

Consolidations in a fragmented market

Overall, market concentration has increased somewhat compared to the previous year. Across all 13 markets examined, the top 10 companies had a cumulative market share of 42.4%, the top 20 almost 60% and the top 100 manufactures are accounting for 90.7%, although the market shares of the top 10 can vary considerably depending on the country. In Germany, for example, the top 10 had a cumulative market share of 64.4%, the top 20 in total 83.3% and the top 50 a share of 94.8%.

In the last ten years there have been consolidations in the market with many acquisitions, such as Helios, which took over Vallox, and Zehnder, which took over Paul, Enervent and Greenwood just to give a few examples. Many companies also work with different brands, such as the Arbonia Group with its brands: Sabiana, Vasco, Kermi, Prolux, Termovent or the Volution Group with InVENTer, Ventilair, Climarad, VoltAir, Fresh, etc. Despite major takeovers, the market is still strongly fragmented. Although there are some very international companies, local top dogs still dominate in most countries. The leading companies in Europe include companies such as: Aldes, Atlantic, Centrotec Group (Wolf, Brink), Helios, Itho, Maico, Swegon, Systemair, Soler & Palau, Volution Group, Zehnder, etc.

The study examined the following markets for controlled residential ventilation: United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland as one region).

Link to the report

05/11/2022

Copyright: Interconnection, Publication free of charge for coverage regarding the study and InterConnection Consulting.