Remember last year, when Small Planet Supply introduced Fresh-r? We were so excited to offer this amazing decentralized HRV system to our customers. This innovative heat recovery ventilation system, built in the Netherlands, was a perfect choice for new and retrofit applications, as well as for Small Planet Supply. Fresh-r had already been certified in Europe and the Fresh-r team were ready to start the UL - CSA Certification process and have the first units to the USA as soon as the process was completed.

Well, the expectation of a short UL-CSA Certification process was met with the reality of the hurdles of getting certification in a new market, even if you’ve gotten it in your current one. What was expected to be a process completed in a couple of months took well over a year. We were as impatient as some of our customers, so we are excited to announce that the first UL-CSA certified Fresh-r units are here.

If you need some reminding about what Fresh-r does, you can go to our Fresh-r webpage or read our previous blog post. We held a webinar on October 12 with Fresh-r’s Philip Bredt and Hans Arentsen. You can watch the webinar video as well as download the slide deck by using the button below

Trials and Tribulations of the UL Certification Process

With the certification process completed, we sat down with Fresh-r’s Philip Bredt and Hans Arentsen to discuss what they learned about getting certification for the US and Canadian markets.

Certification Facility Location Matters

When beginning the UL-CSA certification process, Fresh-r needed to decide whether to test in Europe or North America. The decision was made to test in Europe because of distance and it was easier to work within similar time zones. While Fresh-r worked primarily with the European team, some collaboration was done with the USA team. While specific tests were unilaterally proscribed in Europe, when there were problems or clarifications needed, the USA site seemed more skilled in understanding why the tests were being done and understanding how differences in EU and UL electrical voltage would really impact safety requirements and testing.

Arentsen provided an example, “We had to explain to the UL people in Europe (because we have 50 hrz and the USA has 60 hrz) that there was sort of no difference in it and that it would be really difficult to make a change. If took numerous conversations with them and we got nowhere. Then finally we got a call with the US UL and they said, “oh, no problem” and the issue was resolved.

From that and other experiences, Fresh-r would lean more toward a North American site in the future.

Certification is More than the Final Product

Each component of their product needed to have both UL and CSA listing. If a component was only listed for the USA, or even if it was listed for both UL and CSA but not on the label, UL would not certify that component. So, even if the component was compliant for both markets, unless the label reflected that, it wouldn’t be certified. Because of this, Fresh-r needed to find identical products with the certification on the label in order to meet the UL-CSA requirements.

Certification Requires Flexibility

In January 2023, just when final testing was to begin, UL notified Fresh-r that they (UL) don’t have the capabilities to test the units in the UL laboratories in Frankfurt. Through collective brain-storming and negotiations, UL agreed that the units could be tested in Fresh-r labs under UL supervision. In order to accomplish this, Fresh-r needed to buy several certified calibrated testing units and prepare the Fresh-r lab to all UL requirements and then the testing could be done.

Certification is an Ongoing Process.

Now that the certification process is complete, Fresh-r will participate in four site visits a year by UL to maintain their certification. The lessons learned from initial certification will help them better prepare them for the site visits.

“Now we know if there is a supplier that can’t deliver what’s on the listing we have to find an alternative that fulfills the same requirements and notify the UL contact that the internal report will have that alternative. That way when the auditor visits the next time he will see that the alternative has already been noted and it will make our continuing certifications easier,” Bredt said.

Certification Means Peace of Mind for Small Planet Customers

While Fresh-r’s experience getting UL-CSA certification wasn’t easy, it will make it easier for specifiers, installers and homeowners. Certification means everyone can be more confident that they will have minimal problems with building inspectors and the Fresh-r systems.